ASBD Board of Directors, 2011-2012
Joel Aronowitz, MD
Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Joel Aronowitz is a prominent Los Angeles plastic and reconstructive surgeon in practice for over twenty years. Dr. Aronowitz served as Chief, Division of Plastic Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for over ten years. He is a graduate of the Accelerated MD program at the prestigious Baylor College of Medicine in Texas where he performed his general and plastic surgery residency training. Dr. Aronowitz is certified as a Diplomate of the American Board of Plastic Surgery and is an Ambassador of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Additionally, he is a member of the American Society of Bariatric Plastic Surgeons as well as the California Society of Plastic Surgeons. Dr. Aronowitz is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery at the USC Keck School of Medicine and the Medical Director of the University Stem Cell Center in Santa Monica. Dr. Aronowitz is the Founder of the Breast Preservation Foundation. The mission of this non-profit organization is to reduce the unnecessary disfigurement of breast cancer surgery through a national campaign of public awareness, medical research and education. Some examples of such oncoplastic techniques include, skin-sparing mastectomy, nipple-sparing mastectomy and most recently presented, breast reduction mastectomy.
Ira Bleiweiss, MD
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
Dr. Ira Bleiweiss is a Professor of Pathology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and an attending pathologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center, where he also is Chief of Surgical Pathology and directs the Division of Breast Pathology. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and St. George's University School of Medicine, he performed his residency in Pathology at Mount Sinai Medical Center followed by fellowships in Surgical and Anatomic pathology at Mount Sinai and at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Bleiweiss is an active participant in national clinical breast cancer trials and has led the Breast Pathology Cadre of Cancer and Leukemia Group B. His current research interests include the correlation of radiologic and pathologic findings, especially in core biopsies, and the pathology of sentinel lymph node procedures. Dr. Bleiweiss has authored a textbook and published numerous articles and book chapters, serves as a reviewer and editorial board member for several peer-reviewed journals, and is an active member of many pathology and multidisciplinary breast cancer focused societies.
Aman U. Buzdar, MD
University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Dr. Aman U. Buzdar received his doctor of medicine from Nishtar Medical College, Multan, Pakistan. He continued his training as a rotating intern at Kaukini Hospital, Honolulu; a first year resident in general practice at Maryview Hospital, Portsmouth, Va; first year resident in medicine at Lakewood Hospital, Lakewood, Ohio; second year resident in medicine at Lutheran Hospital, Cleveland, OH; and as senior resident in medicine at Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk, Connecticut. He continued his training as a first year fellow in Hematology-Oncology at Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk, Connecticut and second year fellow in Medicine (Oncology) at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. He has been the principal investigator of a number of preoperative clinical trials at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and some of these studies have helped to define the role of additional chemotherapy, schedule-dependent efficacay of paclitaxel, and trastuzumab in the preoperative setting. Dr. Buzdar is a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Medical Oncology. He has been the principal investigator of a number of funded protocols and the author of more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, 115 invited articles and numerous abstracts, books, book chapters and manuals. He has served on the editorial boards of several publications including the Cancer, the International Journal of Oncology, and Clinical Cancer Research.
Blake Cady, MD
Cambridge Breast Center, Cambridge, MA
Dr. Blake Cady received his undergraduate education at Amherst College and his medical education at Cornell University Medical College. For 14 years he was on the surgical staff of the Lahey Clinic Foundation in Boston, following which he spent 15 years on the faculty of Harvard Medical School at the New England Deaconess Hospital, rising to the rank of Professor of Surgery. Dr. Cady then became Professor of Surgery at Brown Medical School in 1997 as director of the Breast Health Center at Women and Infants Hospital. In 2003 he became the interim director of the Comprehensive Breast Center at Rhode Island Hospital. These breast centers were models of the comprehensive, multidisciplined, integrated management of breast cancer, and breast problems generally. Dr. Cady has been president of the New England Cancer Society, the New England Surgical Society, The Society of Surgical Oncology, The American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, The Boston Surgical Society and the Massachusetts Division of the American Cancer Society. He served on the national board of the American Cancer Society for eight years. He received the Annual Distinguished Service Award of the American Cancer Society, the annual Heritage Award of the Society of Surgical Oncology, the Annual Inspiration Award of the National Consortium of Breast Centers, The Annual Cancer Lecture from the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons, the annual Hayes Martin Lectureship of the Society of Head and Neck Surgeons, as well as the Lemuel Shattuck Medal of the Massachusetts Public Health Association and the Henry Chadwick Medal of the Massachusetts Thoracic Society, the latter two for his efforts in the tobacco control in Massachusetts. He was founding editor and now editor emeritus of The Surgical Oncology Clinics of North America and is the author of over 300 articles, book chapters, commentaries and editorials in the surgical and oncologic literature. He lectures widely on numerous topics in surgical oncology.
Robert Carlson, MD
Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Dr. Robert Carlson received his doctor of medicine from Stanford School of Medicine. He did his internship and junior residency in internal medicine at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, and then returned to Stanford University for his senior residency and oncology fellowship. On completing his fellowship, he joined the faculty at Stanford University Medical Center, where he is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Oncology. His research interests are focused on the treatment of breast cancer and survivorship issues. He is chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines Panel and of the Survivorship Guidelines Panel. He is extensively published in the area of breast cancer, and lectures internationally on the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. He is a member of the Breast Health Global Initiative, where he served co-chair of the treatment and allocation of resources panel. He received the National Physician of the Year Award for Clinical Excellence from Castle Connelly Medical Ltd in 2008, and the Rodger J. Winn, MD Award from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network in 2010.
Anees Chagpar, MD
Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
Dr. Anees Chagpar is the Executive Director of the Yale Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at the Yale School of Medicine. Previously, Dr. Chagpar held the position of Associate Professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology at the University of Louisville, was the Director of the Multidisciplinary Breast Program at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, and was the Academic Advisory Dean for medical student education at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Born and raised in Canada, she completed her BSc and MD at the University of Alberta and her general surgery residency training and MSc at the University of Saskatchewan. She went on to complete the Susan G. Komen Interdisciplinary Breast Fellowship at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, and an MPH at Harvard University. She also has a MA in Bioethics and Medical Humanities from the University of Louisville. She has taken on leadership positions in a myriad of professional organizations, and her clinical practice and research interests are dedicated solely to breast cancer.
Mauricio Magalhaes Costa, MD
Centro Medico Sorocaba, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Dr. Mauricio Magalhaes Costa graduated from Medical School at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1981. Did his Medical Residence in Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro with a Specialization in Gynecology Oncology at Radiumhemmet - Karolinska Hospital in Sweden, and a Masters in Science and PhD in Gynecology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. In addition, Dr. Costa earned an MBA in Business Administration and served as the Head of Gynecology Oncology at the University Hospital of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He is also the Director of the Breast Divison of the Brazilian College of Surgeons.
Dennis Holmes, MD
University of Southern California, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Dennis Holmes is a Board Certified dedicated breast surgeon and clinical researcher at the University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center where he also serves as Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery at the USC Keck School of Medicine. In addition to maintaining a private practice at USC Norris Cancer Center, Dr. Holmes also serves as Chief of the Breast Section at Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center where he supervises the surgical management of all breast cancer patients and chairs the breast cancer clinical trial accrual program. Dr. Holmes is actively engaged in breast cancer research focused on reducing the morbidity and burden of breast cancer surgery and radiotherapy and serves as principal investigator in more than 10 clinical triasl evaluating minimally invasive breast surgery, axillary reverse mapping, sentinel node biopsy in the setting of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, cryoablation, intraoperative radiotherapy, and lymphedema assessment and management. He also has a special interest in hormone receptor negative breast cancer disparities research and is principal investigator of 2 clinical trials evaluating methods to induce hormone receptor gene expression in hormone receptor-negative breast cancers. As a result of these clinical trial activities, Dr. Holmes is the most active enroller of minority and non-minority patients to breast cancer clinical trials at USC.
Julio Ibarra, MD
Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, Fountain Valley, CA
Dr. Julio Ibarra, a native of Mexico, earned his medical degree from the National University of Mexico (UNAM) and did a year of rotating internship. He then came to the US where he worked as a research associate at UCI for 2 years. After completing the foreign medical graduate requirements, he did his pathology residency at the UCI,MC-LBMMC combined program. After completion, he did a year of fellowship in cytopathology and surgical pathology at LBMMC. Today, Dr. Ibarra is a pathologist in private practice in the MemorialCare Health System in Southern California. He serves as Medical Director of Pathology and Medical Director of pathology at the Breast Center at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center (OCMMC) as well as on the Medical Executive Committee and the Board of OCMMC. He also holds an academic position of Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California at Irvine and serves on the Board of the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC). In 1985, Dr. Ibarra started his breast pathology training under William Hartmann, MD, where he helped develop the Fine needle aspiration clinic at LBMMC in 1986, the Breast center in Long Beach in 1987 and in Orange Coast in 1998. Dr. Ibarra has published several papers in peer reviewed journals and participates in several national and international symposia on breast cancer related topics. He has been included in Best Doctors of Orange County as a "Pathologist" in 1998, 2001 and 2004. He has also been named in Best Doctors in America in 1998, 2001, and 2004-2007. Dr Ibarra has served the American Society of Breast Disease (ASBD) in different roles since 1999 including a term as President from 2007-2008. In addition, Dr. Ibarra was instrumental in the development of the ASBD's Clearinghouse for Breast Disease, a web based repository of all available guidelines/statements involving the different disciplines that participate in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Ibarra has also served as a panellist at the 2002, 2005, and 2007 Global Summit Consensus Conferences, and participated in writing the guidelines for breast cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment in countries with limited health care resources. He also participated in writing the pathology manuscript for Countries of limited resources. Dr. Ibarra believes passionately in a multidisciplinary approach to breast patient care. He stresses that "pathologists cannot and should not practice breast pathology in a vacuum. We should always work in conjunction with radiology and surgery to maximize the benefit to the patient. We should always sign out pathology cases with a clear understanding of the radiology findings that led to that biopsy in the first place." He encourages patients to understand the pathology that leads to their diagnosis and notes that organizations such as the American Society of Breast Disease, American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, as well as many hospital-related web sites, offer valuable information to patients.
Joseph L. Kelley, MD
Magee Women's Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA
Dr. Joseph L. Kelley is the Director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Magee-Womens Hospital of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The Division is nationally recognized for its clinical care, research initiatives and educational mission. Dr. Kelley has been a member of the faculty since 1991. He obtained a Bachelor's Degree from Colgate University, Master of Science Degree from Rutgers University, and a Medical Degree from St. Louis University. He completed a residency in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Magee-Womens Hospital in 1989. He was accepted into the Rutledge Fellowship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he received his subspecialty training in gynecologic and breast oncology in 1991. He has been consistently recognized as one of the "Top Doctors" in the Pittsburgh area. Dr. Kelley's research interests center around the application of clinical trials for the treatment of gynecologic and breast cancers. From 2004-2009 he served as the Principal Investigator/Co-Principal Investigator of the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) at the Magee Womens Research Institute. Additionally, he serves as a principal investigator on a number of studies with application of traditional as well as novel therapeutic approaches to cancers. Dr. Kelley has strong collaborative ties with Magee-Womens Research Institute as well as the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and works with colleagues in areas of interest such as DNA repair in breast and gynecologic cancers as well as investigating the role of application of pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenomics. He is active in the education of medical students, residents and fellows. He serves as the Co-Director of the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship at Magee Womens Hospital of UPMC. This fellowship is certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is one of 40 such programs in the nation. He is also a Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Magee Womens Research Institute.
Seema Khan, MD
Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, Chicago, IL
Dr. Seema Khan is Professor of Surgery in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, and the Bluhm Family Professor of Cancer Research. She is the Co-leader of the Breast Cancer Program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research focuses on applying biomarker knowledge to improve breast cancer risk stratification and develop possible preventive interventions for high risk women. Her research is funded by the NIH (NCI), and by the Avon Foundation. Current studies include an examination of the effects of a soy isoflavone intervention in healthy high risk women; a large case/control study of hormone levels in nipple aspirate fluid (with the goal determining how estrogen levels in breast fluid impact breast cancer risk); and a study of breast tissue hormone levels and gene methylation in breast epithelium. In the context of breast cancer therapy, Dr. Khan chairs a Phase III randomized trial for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (E2108) which will investigate the role of local therapy for the primary tumor in women presenting with metastatic breast cancer. Dr. Khan is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of many professional societies. She sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and is a reviewer for several highly-regarded scientific journals.
Krystyna Kiel, MD
Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL
Dr. Krystyna Kiel is a Radiation Oncologist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. She did her residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and has spend most of her career in Chicago, both at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Rush University Medical Center. She was an associate professor at Northwestern University School of Medicine. Her practice and research has been primarily centered on breast cancer. She was chair of the breast committee for the ASCO annual meeting in 1997 and chaired educational symposia for ASCO. Her community involvement has been with the American Cancer Society and the Network of Strength (formerly Y-Me). On an international level, she has taught in symposia in South Africa, Egypt, and Tanzania. She was a former member of the NCCN breast panel helping to develop guidelines for physicians in the care of breast cancer. Her primary interest is in effective and cost-efficient care of breast cancer.
Shahla Masood, MD
University of Florida, Jacksonille, FL
Dr. Shahla Masood is a Persian born physician, who currently holds the positions of Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology at University of Florida College of Medicine — Jacksonville and Chief of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Shands Jacksonville. She is also the Director of the Pathology Residency training, as well as Cytopathology and Breast Pathology Fellowship programs. In addition, Dr. Masood is the Medical Director of Shands Jacksonville Breast Health Center. An internationally recognized expert in breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis, Dr. Masood has fostered the concept of an integrated multidisciplinary approach in breast cancer care, research, and education. She is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Breast Journal, the founder and the Past President of the "International Society of Breast Pathology", the Director of the "Annual Multidisciplinary Symposium on Breast Disease", "The Breast Cancer Public Forum", and is currently the President of "The World Society of Breast Health". Dr. Masood is heavily involved in the study of minimally invasive procedures such as fine needle aspiration biopsy and ductal lavage in providing diagnostic and prognostic information in high risk and breast cancer patients. She has defined the cytomorphology of high-risk proliferative breast disease in early 1990's and has pioneered the concept of cytomorphology as a breast cancer predictor. Dr. Masood is the author of the textbooks; "Cytopathology of the Breast", "Contemporary Issues in Breast Cytopathology", and numerous publications. She is a frequent speaker at national and international symposiums and is a member of several consensus meetings. She is also a member of board of trustees of "National Consortium of Breast Centers" and the Steering Committee of the "Breast Health Global Initiative" and a member of the "National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers". Dr. Masood is a patient advocate, a partner in community affairs, and an accomplished artist and gourmet cook. She has received numerous awards and recognition. To name a few, Dr. Masood is the recipient of the 2005 Super Bowl Player's Wives Fashion Extravaganza when she was honored as "Women Who Make Miracles Happen, Miracles in Medicine", Volunteer Jacksonville Celebration of Service Award "Heart of Gold Award", Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Parker J. Palmer "Courage to Teach" Award, "Top Doctors in America", The Jacksonville Business Journal "Super Educator Heroes in Medicine Award", and The Florida Times Union "Eve Award" in the area of education. She also received the 2008 Recognition Award of the Iranian American Association. She is the mother of two accompanied physicians, Dr. Ali Kasraeian, a urologist and Dr. Sina Kasraeian, an orthopedic surgeon in fellowship training.
Richard Reitherman, MD
MemorialCare Health System, Fountain Valley, CA
Dr. Richard Reitherman received his doctorate in neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego working on protein chemistry and the biology of cell surface neuronal recognition systems. He then accepted a post doctoral fellowship at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California to study cell surface recognition molecules that mediate organ-specific metastasis. He earned his medical degree from the University of Southern California School of Medicine, and then completed his internship in internal medicine as well as his residency in diagnostic radiology at L.A. County USC Medical Center. In addition to his current position, Dr. Reitherman has been a Clinical Assistant Professor of Radiology at Harbor UCLA Medical Center. In regards to his research interests, Dr. Reitherman is well-known for his clinical role in the early adaptation, promotion and refinement of Breast MRI with more than 20 years experience in breast imaging and intervention. He has published many peer reviewed articles, abstracts, written over 20 editorials, and presented at over 40 conferences nationally and internationally. His last international conference presentation was as faculty member for Dr. Laszlo Tabar's Multimodality Detection and Diagnosis of Breast Diseases, Cairo, Egypt, Fall 2009. He has been a member of ASBD since 1992. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the ASBD and he is Chairman of the Breast Specialty Training Committee for the ASBD. In addition, he is a member of the Screening Guidelines Committee (2005), and the First Breast MRI Consensus Committee that was held in 2004. His special clinical / research interests include improving screening for high risk women less than 40 years of age, multimodality imaging correlation with Large Section Histopathology, and implementation of standardized work flow algorithms for Breast Centers.
Kalliopi Siziopikou, MD, PhD
Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
Dr. Kalliopi Siziopikou is a Professor of Pathology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and the Director of Breast Pathology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL. Dr. Siziopikou received her M.D. degree from Aristotelian University School of Medicine in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1985 and her PhD degree in Immunology from Rush University in Chicago, IL in 1991. She subsequently completed her residency in Anatomic Pathology at the Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Medical School and her fellowship in Breast Pathology at the Beth Israel Hospital/Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA. Dr. Siziopikou is a diplomat of the American Board of Pathology and is fully licensed in Illinois and Massachusetts. Before joining Northwestern, Dr. Siziopikou was the Director of Breast Pathology at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago (1998-2003) and subsequently at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago (2003-2009). Dr. Siziopikou is active in a number of professional organizations including the American Association for Cancer Research, the Women in Cancer Research, the College of American Pathologists, the International Academy of Pathology (IAP-USCAP), the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Chicago Pathology Society, the Breast Committee of the NSABP national cooperative group and the American Society of Breast Disease. Dr. Siziopikou's subspecialty focus is on breast tumor markers and molecular diagnostics in breast cancer. Her research interests center around molecular markers of prognostic and predictive significance in breast cancer. Her current research focuses on the delineation of the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of triple negative breast cancer, racial differences in the incidence of these triple negative breast cancers, biologic differences in the behavior of breast cancer in young versus older breast cancer patients, the possible mechanisms of preferential homing of breast cancer cells to different metastatic sites and improving pathology-radiology correlation, especially with the recently introduced MRI-guided needle core biopsies. Dr. Siziopikou is the pathologist co-investigator on the NSABP B43 study that is poised to change the paradigm of treatment for women with HER-2 positive DCIS lesions.
