Her research will investigate the impact of family on a female surgeon’s career. Women represent over half of matriculating medical students. Thus, women will need to play a large role in the field of surgery in the years to come. For women surgeons, the optimal time to build careers coincides with the optimal time for building a family. This could hinder the progress of women in the surgical field. Dr. Breen will study the correlation of certain family stages with career productivity. The resulting research could lead to changes to make surgery more compatible with a healthy work/life balance.