Pancreatic Cancer Hero

Pancreatic Cancer

The Right Team Makes a True Difference

Pancreatic cancer is a challenging disease to fight, but it’s not impossible. Having the right team can make all the difference. At MCW, our team of doctors and professionals have international recognition for their work finding new ways to diagnose and treat pancreatic cancer. When you come to us, our team becomes your team.

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Meet our Pancreas Program Faculty

In this interview series, Dr. Evans chats with members of our pancreatic cancer program. Each one shares their unique journey into the field, providing insights into the future of pancreatic cancer research. These conversations illuminate the diverse motivations and expertise within our team and also delve into the innovative strategies being used to increase our understanding and treatment of this challenging disease.

WATCH All FACULTY VIDEOS

Surgical Oncologists

Surgical oncologists treat cancer by removing the tumor and portions of the pancreas if necessary.

Kathleen K. Christians, MD

Professor

Callisia N. Clarke, MD, MS, FACS, FSSO

Chief, Associate Professor

Division Chief of Surgical Oncology

Douglas B. Evans, MD

Donald C. Ausman Family Foundation Professor of Surgery; Professor, Surgical Oncology; Chair, Department of Surgery

Y. David Seo, MD

Assistant Professor

Medical Oncologists

Medical oncologists treat cancer using chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, biological therapy, and targeted therapy.

Ben George, MD

William F. Stapp Endowed Chair; Professor of Medicine; Director, Phase 1 Clinical Trials Program; Associate Director for Cancer Genomics and Precision Medicine; Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine

Mandana Kamgar, MD, MPH

Associate Professor

Alexandria T. Phan, MD, FACP

Professor

Radiation Oncologists

Radiation oncologists specialize in using radiation to treat cancer.

Beth A. Erickson, MD, FACR, FASTRO, FABS

Professor

William Hall, MD

Professor

Christina Small-Tom, MD

Instructor

Research Interest GYN brachytherapy Pancreas Stomach/Biliary Duct

Pathologists

Pathologists diagnose disease by studying cells and tissues under a microscope.

Juan Felix, MD

Vice Chair, Director, Professor

Bryan C. Hunt, MD

Associate Professor

Whayoung Lee, MD, FCAP

Assistant Professor

S. Krisztian Kovacs, MD

Assistant Professor

Advanced Gastroenterologists

Gastroenterologists perform advanced procedures, including endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) to help diagnose pancreatic cancer and relieve symptoms.

Phillip Chisholm, MD

Assistant Professor

Kulwinder S. Dua, MD, DSc, FACP, FRCP, MASGE

Professor

Srivats Madhavan, MD

Assistant Professor

Zachary Smith, DO, MSc

Associate Professor

Matthew T. Peller, MD

Assistant Professor

Genetic Counselor

Genetic counselors provide assessment of genetic risk factors and family history for patients.

CJ Christian, MS, CGC

Certified Genetic Counselor, Oncology

Advanced Practice Providers

Advanced practice providers (APPs) are health care providers who work together with physicians to provide direct medical care to patients.

Lisa Graber, RN, MSN, APNP

Nurse Practitioner

Natalie Lang, DNP, AGPCNP-BC, APNP

Nurse Practitioner

Jennifer Menako, RN, MSN, APNP

Nurse Practitioner

Sarah Misustin, MPAS, PA-C

Physician Assistant

Lauren Newell, RN, MSN, APNP

Nurse Practitioner

Gabriella (Gabby) Pyptiuk, RN, MSN, APNP

Nurse Practitioner

Bente Smith, MPAS, PA-C

Physician Assistant

Tanya Radke, RN, MSN, APNP

Nurse Practitioner

Susan Thoreson, MS, FNP-BC, APNP, AOCNP

Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioner

Ann Hanson, RN, MSN, APNP

Nurse Practitioner

Amanda Schlundt, PA-C

Physician Assistant

Registered Dietitians

Dietitians provide special counseling to ensure adequate diet and nutrition to keep the body healthy.

Michele Derdzinski, RD, CD

Dietitian

Psychologist

Psychologists are responsible for assessing, diagnosing, and treating behavioral problems related to mental or physical health and work to improve a patient's quality of life.

Karen E. Kersting, PhD

Assistant Professor

Scientific Investigators

Mohammed Aldakkak, MD

Assistant Professor

Michael B. Dwinell, PhD

Professor; Founding Director, Center for Immunology; Director, Bobbie Nick Voss Laboratory for Colon Cancer Research; Hanis-Stepka-Rettig Endowed Chair in Cancer Research

Cancer Metastasis, Tumor Microenvironment, Mucosal Inflammation

Guan Chen, MD, PhD

Professor

Gwen Lomberk, PhD

Joel and Arlene Lee Chair in Pancreatic Cancer Research; Chief, Division of Research; Director, Basic Science Research, Department of Surgery; Professor of Surgery and Pharmacology & Toxicology

Nikki K. Lytle, PhD

Assistant Professor

Mochamad (Muska) M. Nataliansyah, MD, MPH, PhD

Assistant Professor of Surgery; CHDS implementation scientist

Subramaniam Malarkannan, PhD

Professor and Gardetto Chair for Immunology and Immunotherapy; Professor, Medicine (Hematology and Oncology) and Microbiology & Immunology; Senior Investigator, Versiti Blood Research Institute

NK cell development and function

Thomas McFall, PhD

Assistant Professor

I am interested in experimental-systems approaches that enable mechanism-based inference in genomic medicine and can help identify patients for selective therapeutic strategies.

Jong-In Park, PhD

Professor; Eminent Scholar

Raul A. Urrutia, MD

Professor, Department of Surgery; Director, Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine

Will predicting a benign esophageal stricture to be at high risk of being refractory at index endoscopy help in management?

(Dua KS.) Gastrointest Endosc. 2025 Apr;101(4):778-780 PMID: 40187851 04/06/2025
Immunomodulators for Steroid-Dependent Recurrent Acute Pancreatitis After Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy: A Case Series.

(Peck H, Pagani W, Smith A, Madhavan S.) ACG Case Rep J. 2025 Apr;12(4):e01653 PMID: 40182191 PMCID: PMC11968019 04/04/2025
ASO Visual Abstract: Impact of Regional Metastasis on Survival for Patients with Non-functional Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Systematic Review.

(Clarke CN, Ward E, Henry V, Nimmer K, Phan A, Evans DB.) Ann Surg Oncol. 2025 Feb 23 PMID: 39988722 02/24/2025
Predicting dose response to prostate cancer radiotherapy: validation of a radiation signature in the randomized phase III NRG/RTOG 0126 and SAKK 09/10 trials.

(Dal Pra A, Ghadjar P, Ryu HM, Proudfoot JA, Hayoz S, Michalski JM, Spratt DE, Liu Y, Schär C, Berlin AM, Zwahlen DR, Simko JP, Hölscher T, Efstathiou JA, Polat B, Sandler HM, Hildebrandt G, Parliament MB, Mueller AC, Dayes IS, Plasswilm L, Correa RJM, Robertson JM, Karrison TG, Davicioni E, Hall WA, Feng FY, Pollack A, Thalmann GN, Nguyen PL, Aebersold DM, Tran PT, Zhao SG.) Ann Oncol. 2025 Feb 13 PMID: 39986927 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85219073953 02/23/2025
How do you do it?: Gynecologic brachytherapy best practices at high volume institutions within the United States and Canada.

(Small C, Ortiz S, Bedi M, Joyner M, Fields E, Glaser S, Erickson B.) Brachytherapy. 2025 Feb 03 PMID: 39904672 02/05/2025
Patterns of Locoregional Pancreatic Cancer Recurrence After Total Neoadjuvant Therapy and Implications on Optimal Neoadjuvant Radiation Treatment Volumes.

(Beltran Ponce SE, Small CJ, Ahmad T, Patel K, Tsai S, Kamgar M, George B, Kharofa JR, Saeed H, Dua KS, Clarke CN, Aldakkak M, Evans DB, Christians K, Paulson ES, Erickson B, Hall WA.) Pract Radiat Oncol. 2025;15(1):e47-e56 PMID: 39182645 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85210733936 08/26/2024
MEK inhibitor-based therapy in metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma with KRAS G12R alteration.

(Auckley E, Ying G, Yohay S, Aldakkak M, Thalji SZ, Vakili P, Grahl J, Mayer B, Shahjehan F, Low SK, Evans DB, Christians KK, Seo YD, Erickson B, Hall WA, McFall T, Kurzrock R, George B, Kamgar M.) . Clin Oncol 43, 2025 (suppl 4; abstr 725), ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancer symposium, Poster Presentation; San Francisco, January 2025 01/27/2025
Defining the Role of Adjuvant Radiotherapy for Biliary Tract Cancers: A Site-Specific Propensity-Matched Analysis

(Seo YD, Acidi B, Newton A, Haddad A, Chiang YJ, Coelho R, Newhook TE, Tzeng CWD, Chun YS, Ludmir EB, Koay EJ, Javle M, Vauthey JN, Cao HST.) Cancers. February 2025;17(3) SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85217538724 02/01/2025
Characteristics Associated with Successful Residency Match in General Surgery.

(Collins RA, Nimmer K, Sheriff SA, Arora TK, Kothari AN, Cunningham C, Clarke CN.) Ann Surg Open. 2024 Sep;5(3):e469 PMID: 39310342 PMCID: PMC11415117 09/23/2024
Median arcuate ligament release at the time of pancreaticoduodenectomy or total pancreatectomy.

(Ward EP, Vincent-Sheldon S, Tolat P, Kulkarni N, Aldakkak M, Budithi R, Clarke CN, Tsai S, Evans DB, Christians KK.) Surgery. 2024 May;175(5):1386-1393 PMID: 38413302 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85186348752 02/28/2024
Gynecologic infection rates after ablation treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 and higher (CIN2+): Secondary analysis of a non-inferiority randomized trial.

(Masch R, Conzuelo-Rodriguez G, Mitchell JA, Alfaro K, Soler M, Chavez LF, Wu S, Sun J, Hu L, Marinela-Hernandez D, Alonzo TA, Felix JC, Cremer ML.) PLOS Glob Public Health. 2024;4(7):e0003333 PMID: 38985817 PMCID: PMC11236093 07/10/2024
Biliary Adverse Events During Neoadjuvant Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer.

(Thalji SZ, Fernando D, Dua KS, Madhavan S, Chisholm P, Smith ZL, Aldakkak M, Christians KK, Clarke CN, George B, Kamgar M, Erickson BA, Hall WA, Evans DB, Tsai S.) Ann Surg. 2023 Dec 01;278(6):e1224-e1231 PMID: 37078282 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85176508848 04/20/2023
Oral and Inhaled Fosamprenavir Reverses Pepsin-Induced Damage in a Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Mouse Model.

(Johnston N, Samuels TL, Goetz CJ, Arnold LA, Smith BC, Seabloom D, Wuertz B, Ondrey F, Wiedmann TS, Vuksanovic N, Silvaggi NR, MacKinnon AC, Miller J, Bock J, Blumin JH.) Laryngoscope. 2023 Jan;133 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S1-S11 PMID: 35678265 PMCID: PMC9732152 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85131512635 06/10/2022
Assessment of Quality of Frozen Section Services at a Large Academic Hospital Before and After Relocation.

(Onyenekwu CP, Czaja RC, Norui R, Hunt BC, Miller J, Jorns JM.) Am J Clin Pathol. 2022 Nov 03;158(5):655-663 PMID: 36208148 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85144627063 10/09/2022
Neuroendocrine Tumors: a Relevant Clinical Update.

(Rizen EN, Phan AT.) Curr Oncol Rep. 2022 Jun;24(6):703-714 PMID: 35254612 03/08/2022
Insomnia

(Kersting K.) Principle-Based Stepped Care and Brief Psychotherapy for Integrated Care Settings. 13 February 2018:223-230 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85046321268 02/13/2018

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