麻豆传媒

Weijing Sun, MD, FACP, is a Director of Division of Medical Oncology in University of Kansas School of Medicine, and an Associate Director of University of Kansas Cancer Center. He specializes in the treatment of colorectal cancer.

Dr. Sun is board-certified in internal medicine and medical oncology. He received his medical degree from Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, in Shanghai. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill., and his hematology-oncology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Dr. Sun is a member of the American Medical Association, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Association of Cancer Research, the Eastern Cooperative Group of Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancer Core Committee, the American College of Physicians 鈥� Internal Medicine, the NCI Gastrointestinal Cancer Steering Committee Hepatobiliary Task Force, and serves on the American Society of Clinical Oncology Scientific Program and Membership Committee. In addition, Dr. Sun has been recognized on U.S. 麻豆传媒 & World Report鈥檚 American Top Doctors list.

Dr. Rachel Issaka is a gastroenterologist and clinical researcher focused on decreasing the mortality associated with colorectal cancer, with a special focus on medically underserved populations. Dr. Issaka鈥檚 research includes identifying, measuring and recommending new and improved approaches to screening and follow-up both in Seattle and across the U.S.

The roots of Dr. Issaka鈥檚 research lie in a tale of two clinics. The first was at Northwestern University鈥檚 McGaw Medical Center, a few blocks from Chicago鈥檚 glittering 鈥淢agnificent Mile鈥� commercial district. The second was at a federally qualified health center on the city鈥檚 South Side, several miles and another world away.

Issaka worked at both clinics early in her medical career. She soon noticed a striking difference between the two. Her mostly white, middle- to upper-class patients at Northwestern faithfully followed whatever the doctor ordered. That included getting screened for colorectal cancer, the second-deadliest cancer in the U.S.

But it was different on the South Side. Her mostly African-American and Latino patients there, when encouraged to schedule screening for colorectal cancer, often declined.

Why?

Issaka has never stopped asking why disparities exist and how to achieve health equity in colorectal cancer screening. The questions aren鈥檛 academic. Screening can prevent colorectal cancer by detecting and simultaneously removing precancerous polyps, small lesions that over time can grow and become cancerous.

But despite clear evidence that screening for colorectal cancer saves lives, rates aren鈥檛 where they should be. The screening goal for the U.S. population, according to the American Cancer Society and National Colorectal Cancer Round Table, is 80 percent. The actual rate is about 63 percent across all populations, with even lower rates among racial minorities and those of lower socioeconomic status.

Closing that gap, Issaka noted, could save 200,000 lives over the next 20 years. And it could lessen the socioeconomic inequalities that linger 鈥� or stubbornly grow 鈥� in cancer care and mortality.

鈥淪creening is a way to not only prevent disease but reduce racial and economic disparities,鈥� said Issaka, who is on the faculty of the Hutch鈥檚 Clinical Research Division and the Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research, which is based in the Public Health Sciences Division. 鈥淲e need to close that gap so that every citizen can benefit from the advances in cancer care and prevention.鈥�

Dr. Cecchini focuses on developing new treatments for patients living with advanced gastrointestinal cancers. His specific research includes leveraging innovating DNA damaging therapies as a strategy to enhance the immune response. He has participated as both a principal investigator or sub-investigator on more than 100 clinical trials. This includes cooperative group studies, industry studies, as well as investigator initiated clinical trials. He is also the national principal investigator for multiple studies. In addition to his clinical research, Dr. Cecchini collaborates with multiple laboratories to perform bench to bedside research to enhance treatment options for patients living with gastrointestinal cancers.
He currently receives research funding through his NIH K08 Career Development Award which is evaluating the relationship between DNA damage and the immune response for gastrointestinal cancers. He was also awarded a Young Investigator Award from the Conquer Cancer Foundation, during his fellowship.

After obtaining his MD degree from the Autonomous University Barcelona, Dr. Llor trained in basic research and Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago and completed his GI fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He complemented his training with a PhD degree in molecular biology from the University of Barcelona. A clinically active gastroenterologist, Dr. Llor鈥檚 research and clinical interests relate to colorectal cancer. He has a very active basic and translational research program mainly focusing on two different aspects of colorectal cancer: hereditary and familial forms, and disparities in colorectal cancer. This work has resulted in almost 100 scientific publications in this field. He has made seminal contributions to the field of Lynch syndrome diagnosis as well as in the definition of other non-polyposis syndromic colorectal cancer cases. Some of his most recent work is providing important clues to the understanding of the biological differences that contribute to disparities in colorectal cancer. Watch a video with Dr. Xavier Llor >>

Dr. Llor is the Co-Director of the Smilow Cancer Genetics and Prevention Program; Director for Cancer Screening; and Medical Director of the Colorectal Cancer Prevention Program at Yale University and Smilow Cancer Hospital and he sees patients at Yale. He is a member of the steering committee of the National Colorectal Cancer Round Table (NCCRT) and member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines panels for colorectal cancer screening and colorectal cancer genetics. He is commonly invited to lecture in colorectal cancer genetics in the US and abroad.

Dr. Jayachandran specializes in Breast Medical Oncology. She is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Keck and also serves as the Director of Breast Medical Oncology and Genomics at the LAC+USC Medical Center. She graduated from Stanford University and the University of Michigan Medical School before completing her residency in Internal Medicine at UCSF Fresno and fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at USC. She is active in research with a focus on clinical trials, translational studies, biomarkers, and improving access to care. She enjoys teaching fellows, residents, and medical students.

Heinz-Josef Lenz, M.D., FACP, is the Associate Director for Clinical Research and Co-Leader of the Gastrointestinal Cancers Program at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Lenz is Professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine, Section Head of GI Oncology in the Division of Medical Oncology and Co-Director of the Colorectal Center at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
Dr. Lenz received his medical degree from Johannes-Gutenberg Universität in Mainz, Germany, in 1985. He completed a residency in Hematology and Oncology at the University Hospital Tübingen in Germany, a clerkship in Oncology at George Washington University in Washington, DC, and a clerkship in Hematology at Beth Israel Hospital of Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He served subsequent fellowships in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
An active researcher, Dr. Lenz focuses on topics including the regulation of gene expression involved in drug resistance, patients at high risk of developing colorectal cancer, and determination of carcinogenesis, methods of early detection, and better surveillance of these cancers. He is a member of several professional societies, including the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Gastroenterology Association, and the National Society of Genetic Counselors. He also serves on the National Advisory Board of a number of professional organizations. Dr. Lenz is the author of numerous peer-reviewed publications and invited papers, reviews, and editorials. He also serves as Co-Chair of the GI Committee and Correlative Science Committee for SWOG. He is a member of the NCI Task Force for Gastroesophageal Cancer, the NCI Steering Committee and the NCI Translational Science Committee. In addition to having an NCI-funded laboratory, he was a recipient of the ASCO Young Investigator Award, the ASCO Career Development Award, and the STOP Cancer Career Development Award. He received in 2021 the USC Mentoring Award as well as highly cited researchers in the world. He has been select as influential leader by the LA Business Journal in 2021 and 2023.
As Deputy Cancer Center Director for Research Programs and Co-Director for the Center for Cancer Drug Development, Dr. Lenz oversees the programmatic and clinical activities of the Gastrointestinal Cancers, Genitourinary Cancers, Women’s Cancers, and Leukemia and Lymphoma Programs.

Dr. El-Khoueiry completed his medical degree, residency in internal medicine and fellowship in hematology and oncology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. He is currently associate professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology, a member of the Gastrointestinal Cancers Program and director of the phase I drug development clinical program. He has been the medical director of the Clinical Investigations Support Office at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center since 2007.
His primary research interests include the development of novel drugs for the treatment of solid tumors, especially gastrointestinal malignancies, the design and conduct of phase I and II clinical trials to test these drugs, and translational research focused on developing prognostic and predictive markers in patients with GI malignancies. Dr. El-Khoueiry has established a national reputation in the area of hepatobiliary cancers clinical research; he is the co-chair of the hepatobiliary cancers committee of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) and a member of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) hepatobiliary cancers task force. He is the principal investigator on several clinical trials that are evaluating the role of novel drugs for the treatment of biliary and hepatocellular cancers.
As the phase I program director, Dr. El-Khoueiry has formed an experienced and highly skilled phase I clinical research team and established an efficient infrastructure for the conduct of high quality and innovative phase I studies. He has also worked with basic scientists at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center to design phase I studies to test novel compounds or novel combinations that had undergone pre-clinical testing at USC.
Dr. El-Khoueiry is frequently invited to give lectures nationally about gastrointestinal malignancies, particularly hepatobiliary cancers, and has a large number of peer-reviewed publications in his areas of research.

Dr. Joel Mason is Senior Scientist and Leader of the Vitamins and Carcinogenesis Team at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. He studies the cellular pathways by which 1-carbon nutrients, obesity, and the colonic microbiome alter the risk of cancer formation, and his team develops strategies based on this knowledge for the purposes of cancer prevention. Among Dr. Mason’s research accomplishments is the elaboration of cellular mechanisms by which abundant intake of folate protects against colon cancer, insights into how folate availability interacts with certain genetic traits and environmental factors in determining the risk of developing breast and colon cancer, and the demonstration—in both animal models and humans—that obesity incites inflammation and precancerous molecular changes in the lining of the colon. Dr. Mason has authored some of the most frequently cited papers in his field. He has been ranked as a Top Doctor in the U.S. (top 1% of all physicians) and top Cancer Doctor in the U.S. by Castle Connolly Limited, and is consistently rated by his peers as one of the top gastroenterologists in Boston, MA (Boston Magazine) and the U.S. as a whole (U.S. 麻豆传媒 & World Report). He is currently researching the combinations of pharmacologic, dietary, and microbiologic agents in the prevention of obesity-induced colon cancer. Dr. Mason is also a Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and Professor of Nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and is an Associate Editor of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. He is a staff physician in the Divisions of Clinical Nutrition and Gastroenterology at Tufts Medical Center. Dr. Mason is a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the American Association for Cancer Research and American Society for Nutrition.

Matthew Giglia, MD, is a colon and rectal surgeon at Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His expertise includes surgical management of colon and rectal cancer, robotic colon and rectal surgery, surgical management of inflammatory bowel disease, treatment of anorectal disease like fistulas, hemorrhoids and fissures, and surgical management of diverticular disease. His media interviews include tips on preventing colorectal cancer and the risk of erectile dysfunction with colorectal surgeries.

Dr. Giglia earned a medical degree from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans. He completed a residency in general surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. Dr. Giglia is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and the Louisiana State Medical Society. He is double board certified in colon and rectal surgery, as well as general surgery.