Breast cancer is the most frequent female cancer with more than one million newly diagnosed cases and more than 350.000 women dying from the disease each year worldwide. This is mainly attributed to the lack of known risk factors as well as lack of efficient and non-toxic anti-cancer drugs. My research employs strategies that might help to cut down the incidence of breast cancer by way of molecular epidemiological studies and to improve treatment outcomes of available therapies by way of pharmacogenomic approaches. My research team employs large patient collections (case-control and treatment cohorts) for the identification of susceptibility genes and treatment predictors by candidate gene, whole genome as well as epigenetic approaches. Candidates are further explored in mechanistic studies to establish biological evidence. This translational research involves a high degree of interdisciplinary collaboration among scientists with medical, epidemiological, laboratory and statistical expertises for the complex evaluation of clinical and laboratory data obtained via high-throughput molecular analyses. The overall goal is to provide the knowledge and diagnostic tools for future exploration and implementation of personalized treatment schemes.