Dr. Ljung is Professor Emerita at UCSF Medical Center and director of the Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center Research Tissue Bank. Dr. Ljung is an expert in fine needle aspirations (FNA), a simple biopsy procedure which can yield a quick assessment of a lump or tumor and can be adopted in low-resource settings. Dr. Ljung served as an author, focused on diagnosis issues, for the tiered NCCN sponsored breast guidelines designed for low- and middle-resource settings in 2007. She subsequently served as the lead pathologist during the implementation of those guidelines in Ghana. Furthermore, she taught FNA cytology at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi and the main teaching hospital in Accra. In 2010 she was recruited by PATH, Seattle to serve as lead pathologist in an effort to provide improved and cost-effective diagnostic services in Peru to expedite identification and referral for patients with cancer.

Dr. Balassanian is an associate professor in the Department of Pathology with a clinical focus in the fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy clinic, particularly with incorporating ultrasound guidance for FNA biopsy at UCSF. He is working to develop clinical applications for molecular diagnostics in the FNA setting and presents at the weekly Breast Tumor Board conference at UCSF. He currently collaborates with the Peru National Cancer Institute, Regional Cancer Institute, and Ministry of Health on community-based programs for improving breast health and a project to explore the biological implications of breast cancer protective variants in Latin American women with high indigenous American heritage.