Newswise — Joanne Mortimer, M.D., vice chair and professor in City of Hope’s Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research and co-director of the Breast Cancer Program. Mortimer brings together scientists from across disciplines to help prevent cancer, develop better treatments and help survivors live full, healthy lives. Areas of expertise: Breast cancer risk, survival, mammography, medical oncology treatments and prevention.

Jana Portnow, M.D., an associate clinical professor in City of Hope’s Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research and associate director of its Brain Tumor Program, is heavily involved in research to improve treatment of the most aggressive and difficult brain cancers, as well as investigating the use of microdialysis to monitor a drug's effectiveness. Portnow is examining immunotherapy options including a clinical trial using specially modified T-cells. Areas of expertise: Neuro-oncology

Robert Morgan, M.D. is the Co-director, Gynecological Cancers Program; Co-director, Gynecological Oncology/Peritoneal Malignancy Program; Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research. As the head of the NCCN panel for ovarian cancer, Morgan focuses on improving drug therapy for better outcomes among gynecological cancer patients and improving their quality of life during and after treatment. Areas of expertise: ovarian cancer, women’s cancers

Marwan Fakih, M.D., Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutic Research; Co-director, Gastrointestinal Cancer Program; Associate Director for Clinical Investigations, Comprehensive Cancer Center is passionate about educating his patients every step of the way. A prolific publisher, he has authored dozens of papers and led numerous clinical trials, many of which focus on new treatments for advanced colorectal cancer.Areas of expertise: Gastrointestinal cancers, advanced colorectal cancer

Ravi Salgia, M.D., Ph.D., the associate director for clinical sciences at City of Hope, serves on various panels for the National Cancer Institute. He has consistently received research grants from the NIH for his research work and has been awarded several invention discoveries and patents related to his work.Areas of expertise: medical oncology, lung cancer, immunotherapy

Jeffrey Weitzel, M.D., a leading genetics researcher, led a groundbreaking study that revealed that BRCA mutations may be present in 25 percent of U.S. Hispanic women, leading to calls for increased genetic testing and counseling. Dr. Weitzel is at the forefront of developing low-cost genetic screening materials as well as training doctors and nurses for underserved populations in Peru, Colombia and Mexico.Areas of expertise: cancer genetics, cancer risk assessment to targeted therapy, clinical and psychosocial outcomes, and “chemoprevention,” or the use of drugs to lower the risk of developing cancer.

Linda Bosserman, M.D., assistant clinical professor in City of Hope’s Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, developed an integrated psychosocial oncology program and established the Breast Health Center for diagnostic services at a community practice. Areas of Expertise: Women's cancer care, cancer prevention, clinical trials and quality cancer care delivery in community practice.

Amrita Krishnan, M.D., director of the Judy and Bernard Briskin Center for Multiple Myeloma Research, was instrumental in bringing successful transplant therapy to HIV patients with lymphoma when many believed such patients were too weak to tolerate the procedure. She directs City of Hope’s multiple myeloma center, which seeks to advance one of the most rapidly changing areas in cancer research. Areas of Expertise: Myeloma, multiple myeloma, bone marrow/stem cell transplantation.

Sumanta Pal, M.D., assistant clinical professor in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, is focused on finding ways to better understand how cancers develop and metastasize, better predict cancer recurrence and improve treatments with fewer negative side effects. He has also found that using checkpoint inhibitors, which harness the power of a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer, shows a lot of promise for patients with bladder cancer. Area of Expertise: Bladder, kidney, prostate and testicular cancers, immunotherapy.

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