Nita Ahuja, M.D.

Nita Ahuja, M.D. is an Assistant Professor of Surgery and Oncology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an attending surgeon at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Ahuja obtained her medical education at Duke University School of Medicine and her training in General Surgery at Johns Hopkins University. In addition, she completed a fellowship in surgical oncology at Johns Hopkins focused on hepatobiliary malignancies. Her primary clinical interests are cancers and tumors of the pancreas, bile duct, stomach, colon and rectum and abdominal sarcomas. Her major scientific interest is in development of genetic markers for early cancer detection, predicting cancer recurrence and predicting response to therapy.

University Appointments:

Assistant Professor of Surgery and Oncology

Degrees:

1989 B.S. Biology and Mathematics, University of Maryland (College Park, MD)

1993 M.D. Medicine, Duke University (Durham, NC)

Training:

1993-2002 Resident in General Surgery, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)

1996-1999 Fellowship in Surgical Research, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)

2003-2004 Fellowship in Surgical Oncology, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)

Board Certifications and Certificates:

American Board of General Surgery

Society of Surgical Oncology Fellowship Certificate

Clinical Interests:

Gastrointestinal tumors

Sarcomas of the abdomen and retroperitoneum

Research Interests:

Molecular markers for early detection of cancer

Molecular markers for prognosis of cancer patients

Jennifer Axilbund, M.S.

Jennifer Axilbund joined the pancreatic cancer registry team as the genetic counselor in June of 2000. Ms. Axilbund has a Master of Science in Genetic Counseling from the University of Colorado as well as a Master of Science in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Northwestern University. She is certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling. Ms. Axilbund provides risk counseling to individuals with a personal or family history of cancer, and addresses such issues as cancer screening, genetic testing, and familial implications of genetic risk.

To schedule an appointment with Ms. Axilbund, please contact The Johns Hopkins Clinical Cancer Genetics and Prevention Program at (410) 502-7082. A directory of genetic counselors in other areas may be found through the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) at http://www.nsgc.org

Barbara Biedrzycki, Ph.D., CRNP, AOCNP

Barbara Biedrzycki is an oncology nurse practitioner for the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, a clinical research associate for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a clinical instructor for the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. She recently completed her dissertation research on decision making for cancer clinical trial participation that focused on people having either pancreas or colorectal cancer. Her main research interests are decision making, symptom assessment and management, quality of life, and advanced care planning.

She is nationally certified both as an advanced oncology nurse practitioner, and as an adult primary care nurse practitioner. Currently, she works with the Pancreas Multidisciplinary Clinic, provides medical in-patient consultations, and teaches nursing students in clinical settings.

John Cameron, M.D.

Dr. John L. Cameron is the Alfred Blalock Distinguished Service Professor of Surgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. For nineteen years he served as the Chief of Surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Cameron obtained his undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1958, and his medical degree from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1962. All of his training in General and Thoracic Surgery was obtained at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Cameron has had a long-standing interest in alimentary tract diseases, and specifically in pancreatic cancer. He has operated upon more patients with pancreatic cancer, and done more Whipple resections than any other surgeon in the world. He has been a leader in Alimentary Tract Surgery for many years. National leadership positions held include being President of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, President of the Southern Surgical Association, President of the Society of Clinical Surgery, President of the Society of Surgical Chairman, President of the Halsted Society, and President Elect of the American Surgical Association.

University Appointments:

Professor of Surgery

The Alfred Blalock Distinguished Service Professor

Chairman of Department of Surgery (1984-2003)

Degrees:

1958 B.A. Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)

1962 M.D. Medicine, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)

Training:

1962-1969 Resident in General Surgery, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)

1963-1965 Fellowship in Surgical Metabolism, Walter Reed Army Research Institute (Washington, DC)

1969-1970 Surgical Assistant Chief of Service, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)

1970-1971 Clinical and Research Fellow, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)

Board Certifications and Certificates:

American Board of General Surgery

American Board of Thoracic Surgery

Clinical Interests:

Tumors and disease of the pancreas, bile ducts, and gallbladder

Research Interests:

Clinical outcomes in pancreas surgery

Randomized clinical trials in pancreas surgery

Marcia (Mimi) Canto, M.D., M.H.S.

Marcia (Mimi) Canto, M.D., M.H.S. is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Oncology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is also the Director of Endoscopy at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Canto received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the Philippines in Manila in 1981 (summa cum laude). She received her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1985 from the University of the Philippines and completed her training in Internal Medicine from State University of New York Sciences Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. Dr. Canto completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Gastroenterology-Hepatology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and received a Master of Health Science in Clinical Epidemiology from The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1993. Dr. Canto came back to Johns Hopkins after spending three years at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio for advanced endoscopic training. Her primary clinical interests include endoscopy, particularly the use of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in detecting early pancreatic cancer and its precursors. She has recently shown that endoscopic ultrasound can be used to detect asymptomatic precancerous lesions in patients with a family history of pancreatic cancer.

Selected References

Canto MI, Goggins M, Yeo CJ, Griffin C, Axilbund JE, Brune K, Ali SZ, Jagannath S, Petersen GM, Fishman EK, Piantadosi S, Giardiello FM, Hruban RH. Screening for pancreatic neoplasia in high-risk individuals: an EUS-based approach. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2:606-21, 2004.

Koopmann J, Zhang Z, White N, Rosenzweig J, Fedarko N, Jagannath S, Canto MI, Yeo CJ, Chan DW, Goggins M. Serum diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma using surface-enhanced laser desorption and ionization mass spectrometry. Clin Cancer Res. 10:860-8, 2004.

Yeo TP, Hruban RH, Leach SD, Wilentz RE, Sohn TA, Kern SE, Iacobuzio-Donahue CA, Maitra A, Goggins M, Canto MI, Abrams RA, Laheru D, Jaffee EM, Hidalgo M, Yeo CJ. Pancreatic cancer. Curr Probl Cancer. 26:176-275, 2002. Review. No abstract available.

Michael Choti, M.D.

Michael A. Choti, MD, MBA is the principal or co-investigator for a variety of studies examining new approaches for the treatment of liver, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer. Dr. Choti serves in various leadership positions in national and international societies and has chaired study sections for the American Cancer Society. He currently serves on the American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer and is on the Colorectal Cancer and Neuroendocrine Tumor Panels for the National Cancer Coalition Network. He also serves as the chair of the National Cancer Institute's Hepatobiliary Task Force. His research involves the use of robotics and computer assistance to surgically treat cancer using minimally invasive image-guided approaches. This work has been funded through a series of NIH grants and industry collaborations. He also has a strong interest in molecular genetics and biomarkers in gastrointestinal cancer, as well as clinical research, conducting clinical trials and outcomes research in the hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and gastrointestinal malignancies. Dr. Choti also directs the Surgical Oncology Fellowship training program at Johns Hopkins.

Training

Yale University School of Medicine(1983)

Residency

General Surgery, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania(1990)

Fellowship

Surgical Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center(1992)

Certifications

Surgery, American Board of Surgery(2002)

Research Interests:

clinical trials in hepatobiliary, neuroendocrine, pancreatic and colorectal malignancies

experimental therapeutics of hepatic and pancreatic malignancies

molecular genetics and biomarkers in gastrointestinal cancer

clinical outcomes and health services studies in gastrointestinal malignancies

Robotic and Image-guided surgery

Ana De Jesus-Acosta, M.D.

Ana De Jesus-Acosta, MD is an Assistant Professor of Oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center of Johns Hopkins. Dr. De Jesus specializes in treating gastrointestinal malignancies with a specific focus in pancreatic cancer. Her clinical research interests are developing new treatments for localized or advanced pancreatic cancer. Dr. De Jesus leads translational clinical trials testing novel therapies and hedgehog inhibitors in this disease. Her studies are evaluating how these agents may target the pancreatic cancer stem cells, tumor microenvironment and affect the intratumor drug delivery in patients with pancreatic cancer. Dr. De Jesus also investigates mechanisms of resistance in pancreatic cancer.

Training

1999 Honors, Magna Cum Laude- University of Puerto Rico

2003 M.D., University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine

2003-2004 Intern in Internal Medicine- VA Medical Center, Puerto Rico

2004-2006 Resident in Internal Medicine-- VA Medical Center, Puerto Rico

2006-2007 Chief Resident in Internal Medicine-- VA Medical Center, Puerto Rico

2007-2010 Clinical Fellow in Medical Hematology/Oncology- The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center

Board Certifications

American Board of Internal Medicine-2006

Medical Hematology-2010

Medical Oncology-2011

Ross C. Donehower, M.D.

Ross C. Donehower, M.D. (specialty, Medical Oncology) is Director of the Division of Medical Oncology at The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, Director of the Medical Oncology Fellowship Training Program, and Professor of Oncology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The author of over 100 publications, Dr. Donehower's research focus concerns the pharmacology of chemotherapeutic drugs.

Dr. Donehower received his medical training at the University of Minnesota and completed his internship and residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Prior to joining the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1980 as an Assistant Professor of Oncology and Medicine, he was a surgeon with the U.S. Public Health Service and a clinical associate with the National Cancer Institute.

Frederic Eckhauser, M.D.

Frederic Eckhauser, M.D. is a Professor of Surgery and Director of Clinical Operations in the Department of Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an attending surgeon at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Eckhauser trained at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and completed his residency in 1976. He served as the Chief of the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery and the Director of the Multidisciplinary GI Cancer Clinic at the University of Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan for nearly 25 years before returning to the Johns Hopkins in 2001. He has a longstanding interest in alimentary tract diseases, more specifically benign and malignant diseases (cancer) of the pancreas. He is the author or principal co-author of nearly 70 scientific publications dealing with pancreatic diseases. He brings to the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Pancreas Interdisciplinary Working Group substantial clinical expertise and a vigorous interest in the area of pancreatic cancer.

University Appointments

Professor of Surgery

Chief, Ravitch Divison of GI and Minimally Invasive Surgery

Degrees

1966 BS State University of New York (Binghampton, NY)

1970 MD University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)

Training

1970-1972 Resident in General Surgery, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)

1972-1973 Research Associate, Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA)

1973 Senior Thoracic Surgery Registrar Frenchay Hospital (Frenchay, Eng)

1974-1976 Resident in General surgery, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)

Board Certifications and Certificates

Fellow, American College of Surgeons

American Board of Surgery

Clinical Interests:

Tumors and diseases of the pancreas, bile ducts and alimentary tract

Research Interests:

Radio scintographic identification of microscopic residual cancer following pancreas surgery to determine the need for adjunctive intra operative radiation therapy (IORT) Clinical outcomes in pancreas surgery Clinical outcomes in complex abdominal wall hernia surgery

Michael A. Erdek, M.D.

Dr. Erdek is Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine and Oncology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is director of the Chronic Inpatient Pain Service and director of Quality Improvement for the Division of Pain Medicine.

Dr. Erdek received his undergraduate medical education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Walter Lewis Croll and James and Helen Hovorka Scholar. He trained in Surgery at the Geisinger Medical Center and in Anesthesiology at the University of Florida. He completed his subspecialty training in Pain Medicine and Critical Care Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Erdek is appointed to the Polyanalgesic Consensus Panel, which formulates international recommendations for intraspinal drug delivery. He has published a number of peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and scientific posters in the field of interventional pain medicine, and has lectured at Johns Hopkins and as a visiting professor at several academic medical institutions. He serves on the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

He is board certified in Pain Medicine and in Anesthesiology. Dr. Erdek's society memberships include the American Board of Anesthesiology, the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, the American Pain Society, and the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. He is a member of the editorial board for the journal Pain Physician and has served as a consulting reviewer for Lancet, Pain Medicine, and Anesthesiology.

Dr. Erdek has received significant private and industry funding for his research in cancer pain management. His interests center around interventional pain management, particularly the assessment and interventional treatment of cancer pain, intrathecal therapy for spasticity refractory to management by oral medications, and the use of spinal cord stimulation for treatment of neuropathic pain, refractory angina pectoris, and refractory peripheral vascular disease.

Elliot Fishman, M.D.

Dr. Elliot K. Fishman received his bachelor's degree in 1973 and his medical degree in 1977 from the University of Maryland. After a residency at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Dr. Fishman completed a Fellowship in Computed Tomography in 1980 at Johns Hopkins Hospital and joined The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science at Johns Hopkins in 1981 as an Assistant Professor. In 1986, he became Associate Professor and, in 1991, Professor of Radiology and Oncology.

Dr. Fishman's clinical and research interests have focused on medical imaging with specific emphasis on 3-Dimensional Imaging and Computed Tomography. He was involved from the beginning in the development of 3D Imaging through his work with Pixar, which was a spin-off from LucasFilms in San Rafael, California. Over the last 25 years, Dr. Fishman continued to help develop 3D imaging and has been a leader in the development of interactive 3D rendering. Today, this is a major part of state-of-the-art imaging with a significant impact on patient care and management. Dr. Fishman's interests in computed tomography have spanned the era from early scanners that took 10 seconds per slice, to the scanners of today where the studies are done in less than 1 second. His research team is one of the world's leading groups in developing new techniques and technologies, whether in visualization or post-processing tools.

Dr. Fishman's work in CT has spanned the past 30 years and has resulted in over 1000 peer-reviewed publications; he has also been the author or co-author of 8 textbooks. Dr. Fishman is a member of various organizations and is a past-president of the Society of Body CT/MR.

During his career at Hopkins, his involvement has included graduate and post-graduate education, teaching and, most importantly, patient care. In terms of education, Dr. Fishman has been a sought-after speaker worldwide for many Continuing Medical Education (CME) courses and has given many named lectures. He has coordinated more than 100 CME courses for Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, including the CT Cutting Edge Course for the past 25 years. Dr. Fishman has also developed one of the largest websites in medical imaging and surely the largest in CT, known as www.CTISUS.com. This website is currently used each month by over 50,000 medical professionals from more than 100 countries. The site has been honored by numerous organizations for its excellence and is one of the sites chosen sites for Medscape.

Dr. Fishman was recognized for his excellence in education and teaching when he received three Aunt Minnie Awards: as Outstanding Educator in 2002 and 2007, and as Outstanding Researcher in 2004. Radiologists throughout the world choose the recipients of the annual Aunt Minnie Awards and Dr. Fishman is the first person ever to receive both awards. In addition, in April of 2007, Medical Imaging named Dr. Fishman the "top radiologist" in the nation.

Degrees

B.S., University of Maryland, College Park, MD

M.D., University of Maryland

Training

Residency: Sinai Hospital, Baltimore, MD

Fellowship: Johns Hopkins Hospital

Clinical Interests

Computed Tomography

3D Imaging and Analysis

Oncologic Imaging

Cardiac and Vascular Imaging

Abdominal Imaging

Reearch Interests

3D Medical Visualization

Web-based Education and Training

Oncologic Imaging

Cardiac Imaging

MDCT/CTA Development and Design

Michael Goggins, M.D.

Michael Goggins is a 1988 graduate of the University of Dublin, Trinity College. He did his internal medicine residency and a fellowship in gastroenterology in St. James' hospital, Dublin. He was a Lecturer in Medicine in Trinity College from 1992-1995. He obtained his Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1991 and his European Diploma in Gastroenterology in 1995. The subject of his MD thesis was the characterization of protein methylation in postmortem human brain. He is Director of the Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection Laboratory at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. His research interests include the molecular genetics of pancreas cancer. Areas of particular interest include the role of germline BRCA2 mutations in pancreas cancer and characterizing the molecular genetic progression model for pancreas cancer.

Degrees

Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

St. James' Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

Board Certifications and Certificates

Member of the Royal College of Physicians and European Board of Gastroenterology

Reearch Interests

Pancreatic cancer, early detection, familial pancreatic cancer, screening, genetics, epigenetics

Joseph Herman, M.D., M.Sc.

Joseph Herman, M.D., is a radiation oncologist at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. He specializes in treating some of the toughest cancers to beat - like pancreatic cancer. His research has led to new standards in care, and he is the founder of a unique one-day clinic for pancreatic cancer patients who need treatment recommendations from all branches of cancer care.

Degrees

B.S., Salisbury State University, Salibury, Maryland

M.Sc., University of Maryland at Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland

M.D., University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland

Training

Post Doctoral University of Michigan Health System

Residency University of Michigan Health System

Awards and Honors

1994 Letter of Commendation, National Institutes of Health, Neurogenetics Section

1994 Selected Male Scholar/Athlete of the Year – Salisbury State University

1995 Graduate Merit Award, UMAB Master of Science in Preventive Medicine

1997 Awarded STRTP NIH grant to develop an IFA assay for HHV-8 and Kaposi's Sarcoma

2000 Outstanding Student Achievement Award in Radiation Oncology and Pathology – University of Maryland

2001 Awarded Intern of the Month, University of Michigan Internal Medicine

2005 Chief Resident, University of Michigan Department of Radiation Oncology

2005 Awarded RSNA Resident of the Year (University of Michigan)

2006 Awarded stipend to participate in the 2006 AACR/ASCO Workshop on Methods in Clinical Cancer Research

2008 AACR Career Development Award for Pancreatic Cancer Research

2008 Johns Hopkins Teaching Award

2008 Junior Faculty Award to present at SANTRO (Ampullary Cancer)

2009 Selected Moderator Gastrointestinal Section ASTRO 2009

2010 Selected for Johns Hopkins Leadership Development Program

Manuel Hidalgo, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Manuel Hidalgo is an Associate Professor of Oncology and Co-Director of the Drug Development Program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from the University Navarra Medical School in Pamplona, Spain, and his doctorate degree from the University of Autonoma in Madrid, Spain. In 1997, he began his career as a clinical research fellow at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center in San Antonio, Texas, where he participated in the EORTC/NCI Exchange Fellowship and AACR Young Investigator Fellowship in Clinical Research. He worked as both an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center and as a clinical investigator at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center for two years prior to his current position. He obtained the ASCO Career Development Award in 2001.

Mary Hodgin

Mary Hodgin is a certified medical-surgical nurse who has practiced at Johns Hopkins Hospital since 1977. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree from University of Maryland in 2003. With her background as a senior staff nurse, Mary brings her knowledge of inpatient concerns to complement her role as a research coordinator.

Karen M. Horton, M.D.

Dr. Horton earned her medical degree and completed her clinical training in Radiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is currently Professor of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Director of the Cross Sectional Imaging Fellowship, Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Horton has co-authored numerous articles on computed tomography, especially the use of CT scan in imaging the pancreas and detecting pancreatic tumors.

Ralph H. Hruban, M.D.

Ralph H. Hruban is a Professor of Pathology and Oncology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He received his Doctor of Medicine from The Johns Hopkins University. He continued at Johns Hopkins for his residency training, spent one year as a Fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and then returned to Johns Hopkins to join the Faculty in 1990. He established the National Familial Pancreas Tumor Registry January 1, 1994.

Dr. Hruban is currently the Director of The Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, Director of the Division of Gastrointestinal/Liver Pathology, and Deputy Director for Research and Programs of the Department of Pathology. Dr. Hruban has written over 500 scientific papers, 100 book chapters and reviews, and five books. He is recognized by the Institute for Scientific Information as a Highly Cited Researcher and by Essential Science Indicators as the most highly cited pancreatic cancer scientist - designations given to the most highly influential scientists. In addition to his research efforts, he helped create the Johns Hopkins Pancreatic Cancer Web site, http://pathology.jhu.edu/pancreas, and helped create a popular iPAD application to teach pancreas pathology (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/atlas-of-pancreas-pathology/id474845392?mt=8). Dr. Hruban has received a number of awards including the Arthur Purdy Stout Prize for significant career achievements in surgical pathology, the Young Investigator Award from the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, the PanCAN Medical Visionary Award, the Ranice W. Crosby Distinguished Achievement Award for scholarly contributions to the advancement of art as applied to the sciences, and five teaching awards from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Hruban is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of The Joseph C. Monastra Foundation, The Michael Rolfe Pancreatic Cancer Foundation, and The Lustgarten Foundation.

Christine A. Iacobuzio-Donahue, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Iacobuzio-Donahue was born and raised in Long Island NY. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Adelphi University, followed by both an MD and PhD degree from Boston University School of Medicine. While in Boston, she spent three years investigating how colorectal cancers develop the ability to invade through the colon and spread to other organs (metastasize). Following her education at Boston University, she moved to Baltimore MD where she completed a residency in Anatomic Pathology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. While in residency, she spent one additional year of research training with two leading researchers in pancreas cancer, Drs. Scott Kern and Ralph Hruban, studying the molecular genetics and gene expression profiles of pancreatic cancer. Her research focuses on developing new drugs tailored specifically to the unique features of pancreatic cancers, and on understanding how pancreas cancers grow and spread to other organs.

Elizabeth M. Jaffee, M.D.

Dr. Elizabeth Jaffee is a Professor of Oncology, Immunology, Pathology, and Cellular and Molecular Medicine. She has been developing new vaccine therapies for the treatment of cancer since 1990.

Degrees

M.D., New York Medical College

Scott E. Kern, M.D.

Dr. Scott E. Kern is a molecular biologist who has focused his research interests on the genetic changes which cause pancreatic cancer and account for its behavior. He has appointments in the clinical departments of Oncology and Pathology of the Johns Hopkins Medical School, as well as the basic science programs in Human Genetics and in Cellular & Molecular Medicine. Having trained originally in Ann Arbor, he boasts of occasionally having seen Michigan beat a west coast team. His postdoctoral studies at Hopkins concerned p53, the most frequently mutated gene in human cancer, and he discovered the specific DNA-binding function which is inhibited by the mutations in tumors.

Alison Klein, Ph.D., M.H.S.

Alison Klein, Ph.D., M.H.S. joined the pancreatic cancer research team in November 2004. Dr. Klein received her B.S. in Biology from Boston College in 1994. In 1999, she received her M.H.S. in Biostatistics and in 2001, her Ph.D. in Epidemiology, both from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. From 2001 to 2004, she was a research fellow in the Statistical Genetics Section, Inherited Disease Research Branch of the National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Klein is an Assistant Professor of Oncology in the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center here at Johns Hopkins and is the Director of the National Familial Pancreas Tumor Registry, which was founded in 1994. Working with Dr. Ralph Hruban, she will oversee the maintenance and further development of the registry and provide statistical analyses of the registry population. Dr. Klein's work will focus on the genetic epidemiology of pancreatic cancer in collaboration with Drs. Scott Kern, Michael Goggins and Ralph Hruban.

Selected References

Klein AP, Brune KA, Petersen GM, Goggins M, Tersmette AC, Offerhaus GJ, Griffin C, Cameron JL, Yeo CJ, Kern S, Hruban RH. Prospective risk of pancreatic cancer in familial pancreatic cancer kindreds. Cancer Res. 64:2634-8, 2004.

Klein AP, Beaty TH, Bailey-Wilson JE, Brune KA, Hruban RH, Petersen, GM. Evidence for a major gene influencing risk of pancreatic cancer. Genet Epidemiol. 23:133-49, 2002.

Klein AP, Hruban RH, Brune KA, Petersen GM, Goggins M. Familial pancreatic cancer. Cancer J. 7:266-73, 2001.

Dan A. Laheru, M.D.

Dr. Laheru currently serves as an Associate Professor of Oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Laheru specializes in gastrointestinal oncology with a specific focus in pancreatic cancer. His clinical research interests are in developing and testing new therapies for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. He has developed a clinical trial program to optimize a vaccine approach using GM-CSF transfected pancreatic cell lines as a vaccine in two distinct patient populations. He has also incorporated correlative studies that should provide important information to better understand optimal vaccine boosting schedules as well as to identify antigens that can be predictive in-vitro markers for anti-tumor immune responses. Dr. Laheru is investigating mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance in pancreatic cancer and will be developing and testing new targets for therapy in patients with metastatic pancreas cancer.

Training

1990 Honors B.A., Magna Cum Laude in Chemistry-The University of Utah

1995 M.D., The Baylor College of Medicine- Houston, Texas 77054

1995-96 Intern in Internal Medicine-The University of Utah Hospital and Clinics

1996-98 Resident in Internal Medicine-The University of Utah Hospital and Clinics

1998-2001 Clinical Fellow in Medical Oncology- The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center

Board Certifications and Certificates

American Board of Internal Medicine-1998

Medical Oncology-2000

Clinical Interests

Pancreatobiliary Cancer, Colorectal Cancer

Steven D. Leach, M.D.

Steven D. Leach is the Paul K. Neumann Professor in Pancreatic Cancer, Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology, and Director of Research in the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Leach received his undergraduate degree in Biology at Princeton University, followed by his M.D. degree at Emory. He subsequently completed training in Surgery and Cell Biology at Yale, as well as a fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Leach directs an NIH-funded research program focused on epithelial differentiation in exocrine pancreas, using both mouse and zebrafish model systems. This work is based on the general hypothesis that pancreatic cancer may be initiated by characteristic changes in epithelial differentiation. By elucidating the molecular mechanisms regulating exocrine differentiation in developing pancreas, Dr. Leach's lab has provided important new insights regarding abnormal differentiation events occurring during pancreatic tumorigenesis. His work has demonstrated critical links between early forms of pancreatic cancer and the epithelium of the embryonic pancreas, providing exciting new strategies for disease detection and chemoprevention.

University Appointments

Professor of Surgery, Oncology, Cell Biology, and Cellular and Molecular Medicine

The Paul K. Neumann Professor in Pancreatic Cancer

Vice Chairman for Academic Affairs, Department of Surgery

Degrees

1982 A.B. Biology, Princeton University (Princeton, NJ)

1986 M.D. Medicine, Emory University (Atlanta, GA)

Training

1986-1993 Resident in General Surgery, Yale University (New Haven, CT)

1988-1990 Fellowship in Cell Biology, Yale University (New Haven, CT)

1993-1995 Fellowship in Surgical Oncology, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX)

Board Certifications and Certificates

American Board of General Surgery

Society of Surgical Oncology Fellowship Certificate

Clinical Interests

Tumors and disease of the pancreas

Research Interests

Pancreatic Stem Cells

Zebrafish Models of Pancreas Cancer

Anne Marie Lennon, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Anne Marie Lennon is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Director of the Pancreatic Cyst Clinic and an attending gastroenterologist at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. She received her medical degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1996. In addition, Dr. Lennon has obtained a Ph.D degree from The National University of Ireland. She did her internal medicine residency in the Mater Hospital, Dublin and the Cleveland Clinic. She did her Gastroenterology Fellowship in Edinburgh, Scotland and Advanced Endoscopy Fellowship at Johns Hopkins. She became a member of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1998. She is accredited in General Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology certified by the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB) of the United Kingdom. Her research interests include interventional endoscopy, pancreatic cysts and proteomics.

Anirban Maitra, M.D.

Dr. Anirban Maitra obtained his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences at New Delhi, India in 1996. Subsequently, he completed a residency in Anatomic Pathology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas and a fellowship in Pediatric Pathology from Dallas Children's Medical Center. He arrived at Johns Hopkins in 2001 for a combined clinical/research fellowship in Gastrointestinal/Liver Pathology, and joined the faculty in 2002. Dr. Maitra is currently an Associate Professor of Pathology and Oncology, and an affiliate faculty at the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine. He is the Associate Editor of Current Molecular Medicine, and has received numerous awards for his research studies including the Benjamin Castleman Award, the Warren R. Lang Award, the Gordon Vawter Award, the Harry Neustein Award, and the Lotte Strauss Award.

Dr. Maitra's research goals are focused on the identification and preclinical validation of rational, cancer-specific therapies for pancreatic cancer. Unlike commonly used cytotoxic agents, "mechanism-based" strategies utilize specific biochemical differences between cancer and normal cells and thus, the effects of chemotherapy are selectively detrimental to cancer cells only. For example, a compound may be lethal to pancreatic cancer cells that have deleted both copies of a particular gene, while normal cells can "bypass" the effects of this drug by retaining one or both copies of the implicated gene. Another broad class of "mechanism-based" therapies that is being pursued in Dr. Maitra's laboratory involves small molecule inhibitors of developmental signaling pathways. These pathways (for example, Notch and Hedgehog) are active during embryonic development but are quiescent in most adult somatic cells. Considerable evidence has now accrued that demonstrates the aberrant re-activation of these developmental signaling pathways in human cancers, including the majority of pancreatic malignancies. Targeting these pathways with specific small molecules provides a powerful avenue for therapy, while potential circumventing toxicities associated with conventional anti-metabolite compounds.

Dr. Maitra is also pursuing high-throughput approaches for identification of abnormal pancreatic cancer genes using cutting edge "gene chip" technologies. These chips allow scientists to query multiple genetic loci, including in some instances, the whole human genome, for abnormalities that are unique to pancreatic cancer but are not present in normal tissues. His third major area of research involves developing novel drug and gene delivery systems for pancreatic cancers, using targeted nanoparticles. Development of such non-viral delivery systems have the potential for enhancing therapeutic efficacy while restricting side effects.

Martin A. Makary M.D., M.P.H

Dr. Makary specializes in laparoscopic pancreas surgery and directs the Laparoscopic Pancreas Surgery Program at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Makary is the Mark Ravitch Chair in Gastrointestinal Surgery and an active researcher in both minimally-invasive surgery and health services research.

He completed his education at Bucknell College, Thomas Jefferson University, and Harvard University and his general surgery residency at Georgetown University. He then completed advanced training in pancreas surgery at Johns Hopkins before joining the faculty as a GI surgeon. His clinical interests include minimally-invasive surgery for abdominal tumors and the association of frailty and risk in older surgical patients. Dr. Makary speaks nationally on new technology in surgical care, quality and safety in medicine, and health policy.

Clinical Interests

Minimally Invasive (Laparoscopic) Pancreas Surgery

Laparoscopic Distal Pancreatectomy

GIST tumors

Optimizing Surgery in the Elderly

Minimally Invasive Surgical Oncology

Societies

Society of Advanced Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons

American Board of Surgery

American College of Surgeons

Society of University Surgeons

Lindsey L. Manos, MPAS, PA-C

Lindsey L. Manos, MPAS, PA-C is a Physician Assistant with the Department of Surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Lindsey is the Clinical Coordinator of The Johns Hopkins Multidisciplinary Pancreatic Cyst Program. Lindsey obtained her Masters Degree in Physician Assistant Sciences from Gannon University in 2009. Lindsey completed her clinical training at The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and The Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2009. Lindsey is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.

You can reach Ms. Manos at the following:

Work 410-614-5423
Fax 410-614-1280
E-mail: lmanos1@jhmi.edu

Timothy M. Pawlik, M.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Pawlik received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed his surgical training at the University of Michigan Hospital and spent two years at the Massachusetts General Hospital as a surgical oncology research fellow. Dr. Pawlik went on for advanced training in surgical oncology at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. His main clinical interests include alimentary tract surgery, with a special interest in hepatic and pancreatobiliary diseases. Dr. Pawlik also has an interest in medical ethics and completed a fellowship in medical ethics at the Harvard School of Public Health as well as a Masters in Theology from Harvard Divinity School in Boston. Dr. Pawlik is currently Associate Professor of Surgery and Oncology, as well as the Hepatobiliary Surgery Program Director.

Clinical Interests

Liver tumors/cancers

Gallbladder and bile duct tumors/cancers

Pancreas tumors/cancers

Gastrointestinal tumors/cancer including stomach, intestines, colon, rectum

Reearch Interests

Experimental therapeutics of hepatic malignancies

Clinical trials in gastrointestinal malignancies

Clinical ethics

Boards and Surgical Specialty Certificates

American Board of General Surgery, 2004

Society of Surgical Oncology, 2005

American College of Surgeons, Candidate 1999

Surgical Training

Surgical Oncology; The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

General Surgery; The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Degrees

B.S., Georgetown University, Washington, DC

M.D.,M.P.H., Tufts School of Medicine, Boston, MA

M.T.S., Harvard Divinity School, Boston, MA

Societies

Association of Academic Surgery

Associate Member, American Association for Cancer Research

Society of Surgical Oncology

Eun Ji Shin, M.D.

Dr. Eun Ji Shin is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Director of Endoscopic Ultrasound Program, Director of the Therapeutic Endoscopy Fellowship Program. She received her M.D. degree from Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Shin completed her internal medicine residency, Gastroenterology fellowship and advanced therapeutic endoscopy fellowship at Johns Hopkins. In addition to her clinical and research activities, Dr. Shin is also a Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate Training Program in Clinical Investigation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Shin speaks Korean and is board-certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology. Dr. Shin has clinical interests in pancreato-biliary disease, GI malignancy, and advanced endoscopy, including ERCP and EUS.

Vikesh K. Singh, M.D.

Dr. Vikesh K. Singh graduated with a B.S. in Applied Mathematics-Biology from Brown University in 1995. He graduated with an M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2001. Dr. Singh completed his internship and residency training in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2004. He completed his fellowship in gastroenterology from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a M.Sc. in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2008. Dr. Singh completed his advanced endoscopy fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2010. He also served as an Instructor at Johns Hopkins Hospital from 2008-2010. As of July 1, 2010, Dr. Singh is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He also serves as the Director of the Pancreatitis Center and the Medical Director of the Pancreatic Islet Cell Autotransplantation Program.

Dr. Singh is interested in pancreatic cysts as a cause of acute pancreatitis. In addition, there is growing interest in exploring the role of total pancreatectomy with islet cell autotransplantation in patients with numerous, potentially high risk pancreatic cysts.

Matthew J. Weiss, M.D.

Dr. Weiss is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is board-certified in general surgery and dual fellowship-trained in both complex surgical oncology and hepatopancreatobiliary (liver, pancreas and bile ducts) surgery. He earned his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College and performed oncology research at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He trained in general surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and completed a research fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital in immunology. He completed clinical fellowships at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in both surgical oncology and hepatopancreatobiliary surgery. His clinical interests include both benign and malignant tumors of the pancreas, liver, bile ducts, and gallbladder. He selectively utilizes minimally invasive surgical techniques to treat these conditions.

University Appointments

Assistant Professor of Surgery

Degrees

1998 B.A., Mathematics, College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, MA)

2003 M.D., Medicine, Jefferson Medical College (Philadelphia, PA)

Training

2003-2005 Resident in General Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, MD)

2005-2007 Research Fellow in Immunology, Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA)

2007-2010 Resident in General Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, MD)

2010-2012 Fellow in Surgical Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY)

2011-2012 Fellow in Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY)

Clinical Interests

Pancreas tumors/cancer

Liver tumors/cancer

Gallbladder tumors/cancer

Gastrointestinal tumors/cancer

Benign diseases of the pancreas, liver, gallbladder and gastrointestinal tract

Christopher L. Wolfgang, M.D., Ph.D.

Christopher L. Wolfgang, M.D., Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an attending surgeon at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Wolfgang obtained his medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine and residency training in General Surgery at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. In addition, Dr. Wolfgang has obtained a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry, also from Temple University School of Medicine. Dr. Wolfgang has completed a research fellowship in surgical oncology from Penn State and a clinical fellowship in gastrointestinal surgery at Johns Hopkins. His primary clinical interests are cancers and benign disease of the liver, pancreas, bile duct and gallbladder. His major scientific interest is in the biological behavior of pancreatic cancers.

University Appointments

Assistant Professor of Surgery

Degrees

1989 B.S. Science, Penn State University (University Park, PA)

1990 M.S. Physiology, Penn State University (University Park, PA)

1998 M.D. Medicine, Temple University (Philadelphia, PA)

1998 Ph.D. Biochemistry, Temple University (Philadelphia, PA)

Training

1998-2004 Resident in General Surgery, Penn State University (Hershey, PA)

2002-2003 Fellowship in Surgical Research, Penn State University (Hershey, PA)

2003-2004 Fellowship in Advanced Alimentary Tract Surgery, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)

Board Certifications and Certificates

American Board of General Surgery

Clinical Interests

Tumors and disease of the pancreas

Reearch Interests

Molecular targets of pancreas cancer

Clinical outcomes of resection of cystic lesions of the pancreas