Olalekan “Lekan” Ajayi, PharmD, MBA, FACCC, is Chief Operating Officer for Highlands Oncology Group, P.A. In this role, Dr. Ajayi oversees the deployment of strategic initiatives into operational goals for all organizational service lines, including oncology. Dr. Ajayi currently serves on the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) Board of Trustees as the secretary.
Dr. Ajayi is passionate about leadership development and building high-performance teams through the application of operational excellence principles. He holds a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Wyoming and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Colorado Denver.
Devon Check, PhD, is a health services and implementation researcher. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine and a member of the Duke Cancer Institute. Her primary research interests are quality of care and implementation of evidence-based practices in oncology. Dr. Check is particularly interested in symptom management and other aspects of supportive cancer care services. Her work combines quantitative and qualitative methods to understand and address barriers to the delivery of high-quality cancer care during and after treatment.
Dr. Check received her PhD in Health Policy and Management from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to joining the Department of Population Health Sciences at Duke, Dr. Check completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Delivery Science at Kaiser Permanente in northern California.
Douglas Flora, MD, LSSBB, FACCC, serves as the Executive Medical Director of Oncology Services at St. Elizabeth Cancer Center and is a key player in developing a nationally recognized lung cancer screening program at St. Elizabeth Healthcare. Dr. Flora was named the Robert and Dell Ann Sathe Endowed Chair in Oncology. He serves on the Board of Directors for the American Cancer Society, the Association of Community Cancer Centers, and the Kentucky Society of Clinical Oncology.
Dr. Flora has a history of measurable success in managing all operations, including project management, policy development, staff engagement, budget planning, research, public education, and patient service. He applies Lean Six Sigma methodologies to improve patient experience and staff productivity. He is the Physician Leader instrumental in the development/launch of the Center for Precision Medicine & Genomic Health.
He was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from The Ohio State University College of Medicine in 1999. Dr. Flora has been named a Cincinnati Magazine “Top Doctor” in hematology and oncology for consecutive years since 2005.
Sarah Hudson-DiSalle oversees the medication assistance program and reimbursement services for infusion services at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – The James. She has extensive experience in healthcare information technology, hospitals, managed care, pharmaceutical revenue cycle management, patient access to pharmaceuticals, and healthcare management.
Dr. Hudson-DiSalle earned her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Toledo and, after practicing pharmacy for seven years, completed her Doctor of Pharmacy at The Ohio State University. She is dedicated to improving patient access and reimbursement services for infusion medications at The James Cancer Hospital.
Dr. Edward Kim serves as Physician-in-Chief of City of Hope Orange County and Vice Physician-in-Chief of City of Hope National Medical Center. His vision focuses on strategic, team-oriented translational research and patient advocacy to increase accessibility and equity in cancer care.
Recognized as a U.S. News & World Report "Top Doctor," Dr. Kim is renowned for his oncology expertise and is positioned to drive innovation in cancer care delivery. He is developing new paradigms for translating research into clinical practice and introducing therapies throughout the Orange County clinical network.
Backed by a distinguished history of pioneering cancer research, Dr. Kim is among the country's foremost experts in molecular prognostication―which advances cancer detection and personalized therapies―for lung, head, and neck cancers. He has served as principal/co-principal investigator on numerous studies and protocols and authored over 200 publications in journals including The Lancet, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Cancer Discovery.
Before joining City of Hope, Dr. Kim chaired Solid Tumor Oncology and Investigational Therapeutics at Levine Cancer Institute and held the Donald S. Kim Distinguished Chair for Cancer Research. He recently completed his MBA at University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Diane Portman, MD, FAAHPM, is an outpatient oncologic palliative medicine physician, writer, associate professor in Oncologic Sciences at the University of South& Florida, and chair of the Department of Supportive Care Medicine at Moffitt Cancer Center. Under Dr. Portman’s leadership, Moffitt has been recognized by The Joint Commission with advanced certification in palliative care, and the department was awarded the American Hospital Association’s 2018 Circle of Life Citation of Honor for its strides and innovations in palliative care.
Dr. Portman’s clinical practice focuses on whole-person therapy of cancer-related pain and other symptoms and supportive care communications. She teaches communications skills development workshops for oncology learners. Her research interests include symptom management and patient-reported outcomes, service delivery models, and quality assessment in palliative care, as well as communications in healthcare and the integration of palliative care in oncology services.
Nikoletta Sidiropoulos, MD, is an associate professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Vermont (UVM) Larner College of Medicine, and she is the inaugural medical director of the Genomic Medicine Program at the UVM Medical Center. Dr. Sidiropoulos’ areas of expertise include molecular genetic pathology with subspecialty interests in oncology and quality improvement.
Dr. Sidiropoulos is a diplomate of the American Board of Pathology and American Board of Preventive Medicine in clinical informatics. She is also a member of the Roundtable on Genomics and Precision Health at The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and she is professionally involved with both the College of American Pathologists and Association for Molecular Pathology.
Dr. Sidiropoulos received her medical degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, graduating with the award in “Excellence in Medical Studies.” She completed her residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and subsequently completed fellowships in cytopathology and molecular genetic pathology.