Dr. Becker is a hematologist-oncologist who treats people with blood disorders, leukemia, lymphoma and myelodysplastic syndrome.
I believe it is a privilege to care for patients. It is important to be sensitive to their individual needs, and to treat them as I would want my family members to be treated. I enjoy seeing patients recover and witnessing the extraordinary support of their families.
Plasma cell leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, acute promyelocytic leukemia, acquired aplastic anemia, Faconi anemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome and Gaucher disease.
- Attending Physician, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
- Professor, Hematology Division, University of Washington School of Medicine
- Medical Degree: Harvard Medical School, 1986
- Residency: Beth Israel Hosp. (Boston/Harvard) Internal Medicine, 1987-1988
- Fellowship: Yale University School of Medicine Hematology, 1988-1991
Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Becker's journal articles.
A born researcher
As a child, Pamela Becker, MD, PhD, used to spend hours with her father, who was a pathologist, while he worked in his hematology laboratory and blood bank. By the age of nine, she knew she wanted to be a doctor.
At 16, Dr. Becker attended a biochemistry summer program put on by the National Science Foundation. The year she graduated from high school, she volunteered at a local hospital and worked in the chemistry lab. And in college, she volunteered with the American Red Cross during a blizzard.
For her undergraduate degree at Harvard in biochemistry, Dr. Becker did research in Immunology. She then completed her medical degree at Harvard and MIT, and earned a doctorate in philosophy at Harvard Graduate School of Arts while working at Children’s Hospital Boston on an inherited blood disorder.
Moving west
After 27 years in New England, Dr. Becker came to Seattle to join the University of Washington’s Division of Hematology where she conducts research on gene therapy and hematologic malignancies. She also sees patients at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and teaches hematology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
A violinist in her spare time, Becker enjoyed playing in many orchestral organizations, including the Brookline Symphony Orchestra in Massachusetts. “I had to stop playing when I started working on-call though,” she says.
Both of Dr. Becker’s daughters have inherited their mother’s scientific mind and are pursuing careers in biomedical research. In fact, Dr. Becker’s family is full of physicians, including her husband, father, brother, and several cousins.
Devoting 50 percent of her time to patient care, Dr. Becker spends the other half involved in research, which began with red blood cells, then stem cells and gene therapy. She’s currently involved in clinical trials for leukemia and myeloma, and studies how best to overcome drug resistance for these diseases in the laboratory.
To maintain balance in her life, Dr. Becker volunteers for local patient support organizations and regularly attends many of Seattle’s cultural offerings.