Scientific and Medical Advisory Board

The Scientific and Medical Advisory Board (SMAB) includes clinicians who specialize in the care of people with stomach (gastric), esophageal and GE junction cancer. The SMAB advises the organization on specific medical and clinical aspects of stomach (gastric), esophageal, and GE junction cancer as it relates to our programs. The SMAB also contributes to the content on the website.

 

Jaffer A. Ajani, MD

DDF Medical Advisory Board Chairperson
Professor of Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

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Indran Indrakrishnan, MD

Professor of Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine and for the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

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James Cleary, MD, PhD

Medical Oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

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Omar H. Llaguna, MD, FACS, FSSO

Surgical Oncologist and Chief of Peritoneal Surface Malignancy Program at Memorial Healthcare System

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Rutika Mehta, MD, MPH

Dr. Rutika Mehta is a medical oncologist at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Florida. She received her MD degree from Topiwala National Medical College, Mumbai, India.

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Raul J. Rosenthal, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.S.M.B.S.

Medical Researcher and Attending Surgeon at Cleveland Clinic Florida

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Han-Kwang Yang, MD, PhD, FACS, Hon ASA, Hon ESA & Hon JSES

Professor, Department of Surgery, at Seoul National University Hospital & Seoul National University College of Medicine

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Travis Grotz, M.D.

Dr. Travis Grotz, an esteemed surgical oncologist and Associate Professor of Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, brings a wealth of expertise to the Scientific Medical Advisory Board (SMAB) of Debbie’s Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer. Currently serving as a Consultant in the Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, Department of Surgery at Mayo…

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Shanda H. Blackmon, M.D., M.P.H., FACS

Professor of Surgery, Thoracic Surgery Consultant
Mayo Clinic Rochester

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Zachary J. Brown, DO

Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology
NYU Langone Health and the Perlmutter Cancer Center

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Narikazu Boku, M.D., D.M.Sc.

Professor, Department of Oncology and General Medicine
IMSUT Hospital, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan

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Yanghee Woo, MD, FACS

Associate Professor, Vice Chair of International Affairs, Director of GI Minimally Invasive Therapies Program, Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery at City of Hope Cancer Center

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Kohei Shitara, M.D.

Dr Kohei Shitara is the Director of the Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, at National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa in Japan. He received his medical degree from Tohoku University School of Medicine in 2002. Dr. Shitara is an active member of ASCO and ESMO. He is working as one of the ESMO faculty members for…

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Paul F. Mansfield, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Professor, Department of Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

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Mitsuru Sasako, MD, PhD

Mitsuru Sasako, MD, PhD, brings a wealth of expertise and experience to his role as a distinguished member of Debbie’s Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer’s Scientific Medical Advisory Board. With an illustrious career spanning over four decades, Dr. Sasako has been at the forefront of upper gastrointestinal surgery and surgical oncology. His tireless dedication to…

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Ryan H. Moy, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine and Assistant Attending at Columbia University Medical Center

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Salah-Eddin Al-Batran, MD

Medical Oncologist and Director, Institute of Clinical Cancer Research and Krankenhaus Nordwest-University Cancer Ctr
Frankfurt, Germany

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Adam Bass, MD

Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine Hematology & Oncology and Founding Director of the Center for Precision Cancer Medicine at Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at Columbia University

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Asfaneh Barzi, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Medical Director
Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

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Al B. Benson III, MD, FACP, FASCO

Professor of Oncology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois

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Jordan D. Berlin, MD

DDF Medical Advisory Board Chief Scientific Officer 2016-2021
Ingram Professor of Cancer Research, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, Tennessee

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Barbara Ann Burtness, MD

Professor, Department of Medical Oncology
Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, CT

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Michael A. Choti, MD, MBA, FACS

George Bayoud Professor of Surgery
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas

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Michael Cusnir, MD

Medical Oncologist and Co-Director of Gastrointestinal Malignancies
Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami, Florida

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Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD

Professor of Internal Medicine
University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

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Peter C. Enzinger, MD

Medical Oncologist, Director of the Center for Esophageal and Gastric Cancer
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts

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Charles S. Fuchs, MD, MPH

Director and Physician-in-Chief
Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut

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Daniel G. Haller, MD, FACP, FRCP

Professor of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Elizabeth B. Harvey, PhD, MPH

CEO, International Consulting Oncology, LLC
Interventionalist, MSKCC, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Private psychotherapy practice for cancer patients and their families, New York City

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Howard S. Hochster, MD

Associate Director for Clinical Sciences
Yale Cancer Center, New York, New York

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David H. Ilson, MD, PhD

DDF Scientific and Medical Advisory Board Chair 2016-Present
Medical Oncologist and Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York

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Haejin In, MD, MPH, MBA

Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

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Yelena Y. Janjigian, MD

Medical Oncologist
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York

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George P. Kim, MD

Assistant Professor of Oncology
Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida

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Lawrence R. Kleinberg, MD

Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland

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Samuel J. Klempner, MD

DDF Scientific and Medical Advisory Board Co-Chair
Medical Oncologist, Assistant Professor
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
Harvard Medical School,
Boston, MA

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Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, FACP

Associate Director for Clinical Research
USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California

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Albert Craig Lockhart, MD

Director, Division of Hematology/Oncology
Chief, Oncology Services
Associate Director for Clinical Sciences
Hollings Cancer Center
Medical University of South Carolina

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Robert Martin II, MD, FACS, PhD

Assistant Professor of Oncology
The University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky

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Martin McCarter, MD

Professor of Surgery and Surgical Director of the Esophageal and Gastric Multidisciplinary Cancer Clinic
University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado

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Bruce D. Minsky, MD

Professor & Director of Clinical Research, Division of Radiation Oncology
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

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Mary F. Mulcahy, MD

Associate Professor in Medicine-Hematology/Oncology, Radiology and Surgery-Vascular
Northwestern’s Feinberg Medical School , Chicago, Illinois

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Josep Tabernero, MD

Head, Medical Oncology Department
Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain

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Manish A. Shah, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York

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Joel E. Tepper, MD

Hector MacLean Distinguished Professor of Cancer Research, Department of Radiation Oncology UNC/Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Lakshmi Rajdev, MD, MS

Director, GI Oncology Western Region

Northwell Health Cancer Institute
Chief, Hematology and Oncology – Lenox Hill Hospital
New York, NY

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Matthew R. Porembka, MD

Assistant Professor, Surgical Oncology, Dedman Scholar in Clinical Care
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas

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