Breast Cancer Project Advisory Committees

Pavani Chalasani is currently a tenured Associate Professor at the University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC). She specializes in breast cancer and is very active in clinical and translational research. Her key research interest is in development of biomarkers- imaging, blood based or tissue. She is dedicated to taking care of patients with breast cancer and is passionate about improving their standard of care and outcomes.

Dr. Chalasani is the Principal Investigator on several investigator-initiated, industry sponsored, and co-operative group protocols. She is the medical oncology study chair on a NCTN study for patients with inflammatory breast cancer.  She leads the Breast Cancer Clinical Research Team at the UACC. In addition, she is the Chair for the Scientific Review Committee and interim co-program lead for the Clinical and Translational Oncology Program (CTOP) at the UACC. She is also the Program Director of Hematology-Oncology fellowship at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Chalasani completed her medical school at Gandhi Medical College in India and completed her Internship, Residency and Fellowship in Hematology-Oncology at the University of Arizona.

She was awarded the prestigious NCI’s Clinical Cancer Investigator Team Leadership Award in 2020.  She has received research funding from NIH/NCI, American Cancer Society, Better Than Ever, DOD and The University of Arizona Cancer Center-pilot funding mechanism.

Justina Frimpong, PharmD, BCOP is a Clinical Assistant Professor within the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Temple University School of Pharmacy (TUSP). Her clinical practice site resides in the outpatient setting with Medical Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center located at Temple University Hospital in North Philadelphia.

Dr. Frimpong holds active roles in local, state, and national pharmacy organizations. Her clinical and research areas of interest include oral antineoplastic therapy education, toxicity management/related supportive care, in addition to drug-drug and drug-disease interactions with oral antineoplastic agents.

Tammy Smith is a family nurse practitioner. She works at Virginia Cancer Specialists where she specializes in both medical and surgical oncology for the treatment of cancer. She is an Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse Practitioner and a certified breast care nurse.

LaToya Bolds-Johnson is a Patient Advocate at the TigerLilly Foundation. She is a board-certified emergency medicine physician assistant with a decade of clinical experience. She is a founder of The Tatas 365, LLC/Krewe of Breasties Incorporated. Her interests are to help eradicate disparities and the disproportionate rates of mortality affecting Black women battling breast cancer.

I am a proud graduate of two HBCUs including Prairie View A&M University and Howard University.

Niharika Dixit, MD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the division of hematology/oncology and practices general oncology at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG).

Dr. Dixit’s research focuses on cancer disparities, supportive care, and survivorship care. She is the Medical Director of the Avon Comprehensive Breast Cancer program at ZSFG and directs the Cancer Navigation and Survivorship program at ZSFG. She leads the San Francisco Cancer Initiative (SFCAN) breast cancer task force and serves as chairperson for the Cancer Committee at ZSFG.

Dr. Dixit holds a medical degree from the Armed Forces Medical College in Pune, India. She completed an internship at the Command Hospital in Chandimandir, India, and residencies at the Armed Forces Medical College in Pune, India, as well as St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

Ricki Fairley co-founded and serves as Chief Executive Officer of TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance. As a Triple Negative Breast Cancer Survivor/Thriver, Ricki’s personal purpose, passion, mission, ministry, and blessing is to bring focus, attention, research, science, and action to eradicating Black Breast Cancer.

Ricki is the founder and serves as co-host for “The Doctor Is In,” a weekly live breast cancer advocacy web series on the BlackDoctor.org Facebook page. In January 2022, she started the When We Tri(al) Movement to change the game on Black women participating in clinical trials to improve outcomes for Black women with breast cancer. Ricki serves on the Board of Trustees for the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation where she chairs the marketing committee. She is a board member for the Center for Healthcare Innovation, a non-profit research and educational institute making healthcare more equitable.

Ricki is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds an MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Ogori N. Kalu, MD, MS, is a breast surgical oncologist and health care consultant. Her career is dedicated to breast health education and breast cancer treatment in minority communities. Her published work focuses on breast cancer and healthcare disparities.

Dr. Kalu is on the State of New Jersey Governor’s Task Force on Cancer Prevention, Early Detection and Treatment. Dr. Kalu is on the Executive Board of The Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, and on the Medical Advisory Boards of the Tigerlily Foundation and TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance. She has recently been appointed Associate Editor of the American Journal of Bio pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Dr. Kalu received a bachelor's degree in Biology and Africana Studies. She received her Medical Degree and master’s degree in Biochemistry from New York Medical College. She completed her General Surgery residency at The State University of New York Health Sciences, Downstate Medical Center. She completed a Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Stanford University.

Ryann Nocereto, MSN, RN, OCN, is the director of the Middlesex Health Cancer Center in Middletown, Connecticut.  Ryann has over 15 years of nursing experience including, medical/surgical, oncology, breast care, nurse navigation and academia.

Ryann graduated with her Bachelor of Science in nursing degree from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut, and went on to receive a master's degree in nursing from the University of Hartford in Hartford, Connecticut.

Ruth O’Regan, MD, is the Chair of Medicine and Charles A. Dewey Professor at the University of Rochester. She also serves as Physician-in-Chief of Strong Memorial Hospital and as Associate Director of Education and Mentoring at the Wilmot Cancer Institute at University of Rochester. Her focus is on breast cancer, resistant breast cancers, early drug development, research identifying mechanisms of resistance to breast-cancer therapies, and research development of new therapies with a specific focus on triple negative breast cancer.

She previously served as Division Chief of Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care in the Department of Medicine, and as Deputy Director at the Carbone Cancer Center at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UWSMPH). She served as Chief Scientific officer of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium, and Vice-Chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s Board of Directors.

Dr. O’Regan earned her Medical Degree from University College in Dublin, Ireland. She went on to complete her Internal Medicine residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and her Hematology/Oncology fellowship at Northwestern University.

Richard M. Simonds, MSW, serves as the Director of College Data Analytics and the Director of the Financial Coaching and Economic Stability Lab at the University of Houston-Downtown. Richard is also an Adjunct Professor of Social Work at the University of Houston.

Richard Simonds has over 15 years of financial and executive coaching and has helped clients define and reach their goals.  Richard has worked with clients at fortune 500 companies, non-profits, and community organizations. Richard has spoken locally, regionally and nationally about behavioral change, money management and credit.

Richard received a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Houston and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Miami, OH. He is currently working towards a doctorate at Lamar University.

Elizabeth Valencia, MD, JD, FCLM, serves as the Enterprise Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Mayo Clinic’s Alix School of Medicine for Arizona, Florida, and Minnesota campuses. She also serves as a medical expert in Breast Cancer Imaging and Intervention at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She serves on the Board of Governors American College of Legal Medicine, as Chair of Engagement for the American Medical Association’s Minority Affairs Section, and Wellness Equity Leadership Scholar and National Hispanic Medical Association Leadership Scholar.

She authored 2004 edition of American Medical Association’s Code of Medical Ethics, published in peer-reviewed journals and is a national speaker on health equity, breast cancer, bioethics, law and medicine, education, mentorship, anti-racism, diversity, and equity and inclusion. Elizabeth also served as a Health Policy Dunn Fellow for Governor of Illinois to the Departments of Health & Human Services, Public Health, Public Aid, and Child & Family Services. She was a recipient of the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, Illinois Women’s Bar Foundation Service Award, City of San Diego Delegate for U.S. Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future, and City of San Diego Volunteer of the Year Award.

She obtained medical and law degrees from SIU School of Medicine & School of Law.

Sandra Cuellar, PharmD, BCOP, is the coordinator/professor for the oncology therapeutics course at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Pharmacy and an oncology clinical pharmacist at UI Health. Dr. Cuellar is also the director of the UIC oncology specialty residency program, a member of the Data and Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC), and the vice-chair of institutional review board at UIC. She is involved in research, consulting, and publications in the field of hematology/oncology, and she is an editor-at-large for Journal of Hematology Oncology Pharmacy.

Dr. Cuellar has given multiple national and international presentations on cardio-oncology, supportive care oncology, biosimilars, and oncology therapeutics. She serves as an American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) oncology residency surveyor and as chair of the Industry Relation Council for the Hematology Oncology Pharmacy Association.

Dr. Cuellar received her PharmD degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy, and she completed a pharmacy practice residency at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center. She completed a specialty oncology residency at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Dr. Cuellar has been a board-certified oncology pharmacist since 2006, and she has been active in the field of hematology/oncology for 18 years.

Joanne Mortimer, MD, FACP, is a professor in and the vice chair of the Department of Medical Oncology at the City of Hope, and she is the director of the Women’s Cancers Program. Dr. Mortimer has conducted clinical trials in breast cancer for more than 25 years. Her research focuses on assessing the effects of systemic therapies on cancer and normal tissues. 

Andrea Rodriguez, FNP-C, AOCNP, is an oncology certified nurse practitioner who contributes to research efforts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing by focusing on disparities in breast cancer care. Rodriguez has 10 years of experience as a bedside nurse in oncology, and she has been a nurse practitioner for four years. Her work has been published in the Journal of Advanced Practice Providers in Oncology under the surname Fehl. Rodriguez is a member of the Oncology Nursing Society, The American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology. She contributes to the Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse Practitioner Practice Test Committee. Currently, Rodriguez is in a post-master’s certificate program in healthcare informatics at Chatham University.

Lily Shahied Arruda, PhD, is a Medical Director on the U.S. Women’s Oncology team at Pfizer, Inc. She obtained her doctorate in molecular biology at Vanderbilt University upon completion of her bachelor's in chemistry at Furman University. She then pursued a post-doctoral fellowship at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia where her research focused on the design and testing of genetically engineered bispecific antibodies for the HER2 and CD16 receptors in breast cancer models. Since then, Dr. Arruda has spent the last 15 years building expertise in oncology in the pharmaceutical industry setting. She has held roles within both the R&D and medical affairs sectors which have allowed her to build and apply her medical knowledge across the oncology drug development process.

Robert R. Buras, MD, general surgeon at the DeCesaris Cancer Institute at the Anne Arundal Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland. Dr Buras has 20 years of prior experience in the management of breast cancer and benign breast conditions. Prior to joining AAMC, Dr Buras served as the director of breast surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center. ​

His interest in breast cancer and cellular biology led to a faculty position at Georgetown University where he practiced surgical oncology primarily focused on the treatment of breast cancer.  During this time, he developed and ran a basic science research laboratory and secured NIH and American Cancer Society research grant funding to study the biology of breast cancer under the mentorship of Dr. Marc Lippman.

Dr. Buras received his medical degree from the University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences at the Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed a surgery residency from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, and completed a fellowship in complex general surgery for oncology at the City of Hope National Medical Center.

Dr. Gralow is the Jill Bennett Endowed Professor of Breast Medical Oncology and Professor of Global Health at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a member of the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She is director of Breast Medical Oncology at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Dr. Gralow is actively involved in clinical care, education, and research, and is the PI on numerous local and national clinical trials related to breast cancer treatment, prevention, and survivorship. Her area of research specialization is the relationship between breast cancer and the bone. She serves as SWOG Executive Officer for Breast and Lung Cancer and is a member of SWOG’s International Working Group. Previously, she served for 13 years as Vice Chair of the SWOG Breast Cancer Committee.

Dr. Gralow is current chair of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Academic Global Oncology Task Force and the co-chair of the ASCO Resource Stratified Guideline Advisory Group, and serves as a member of the ASCO Breast Cancer Advisory Guideline Group and Cancer Education Committee in the Global Health track. She received an ASCO Statesman Award in 2008 and will receive the 2018 ASCO Humanitarian Award.

Dr. Gralow is committed to improving the quality of life for breast cancer patients through education, exercise, and diet, and to promoting breast cancer awareness in the community. She is Medical Director and Team Physician for Team Survivor Northwest, aimed at helping female cancer survivors improve their health through fitness and exercise. She is founder of the Women’s Empowerment Cancer Advocacy Network (WE CAN), a group dedicated to empowering women cancer patient advocates in low and middle income countries and Co-Chair of the Secretariat of the Breast Cancer Initiative 2.5 (BCI2.5), a Global Campaign to reduce disparities in breast cancer care globally.

Joy Larsen Haidle, MS, CGC, is a genetic counselor at the North Memorial Health Cancer Center in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. She is a board-certified genetic counselor with more than 23 years of experience in counseling hereditary cancer genetics. She is also a policy and peer review consultant for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota and an expert resource for other Minnesota payers.

Haidle is a clinical preceptor in the Genetic, Cell Biology, and Development Department at the University of Minnesota. She has authored several practice guidelines and published articles on topics such as Lynch syndrome and juvenile polyposis. She has a special interest in public policy, appropriate utilization of genetic tests, and identifying individuals/families at increased cancer risk that might benefit from heightened surveillance or risk reduction.

Haidle received a master’s degree in human genetics from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, and a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa.

Timothy J. Pluard, MD, is the medical director for Saint Luke’s Cancer Institute, and the Koontz Endowed Chair of Breast Disease at University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine.  Prior to joining Saint Luke’s, Health System and UMKC, Dr. Pluard served as associate professor of Medicine at Washington University and clinical director, section of breast oncology at Siteman Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, at Washington University/Barnes Jewish Hospital in Saint Louis, MO.

Dr. Pluard is also the founder and director of the Saint Luke’s Koontz Center for Advanced Breast Cancer,  one of the only comprehensive centers in the nation focused exclusively on the needs of patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Dr. Pluard is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology. He graduated from Washington University and received his fellowship training from Harvard Medical School at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.

Lillian D. Shockney, RN, MAS, ONN-CG, is the co-founder and program director at the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) and is a university distinguished service professor of breast cancer and professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. A two-time breast cancer survivor, originally diagnosed in her 30s, Lillie has worked tirelessly to improve the care of breast cancer patients around the world.

Shockney serves on 28 medical advisory boards currently. She has authored 30 books and more than 350 articles on breast cancer, oncology navigation, survivorship, patient advocacy, communicating bad news, end of life, and most recently, chronic illness and complex care. She has received 61 awards—55 national awards and 6 state awards including being inducted into the Maryland Women Hall of Fame, Women in Business Healthcare Trailblazer Award, Johnson & Johnson’s Most Amazing Nurse in America award, National Komen for the Cure’s Professor of Survivorship award, and several national lifetime achievement awards. Her research area of focus is preservation of quality of life for patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Shockney received a master's degree in business administration from the Johns Hopkins University, a Bachelor of Science degree in healthcare administration from St. Joseph’s College, and a nursing diploma from MacQueens Gibbs Willis School of Nursing.

Imee Unto, RN, MSN, OCN, is the regional administrator of the Florida Hospital, Central Division, North Region, Oncology Service Line. In this capacity she is responsible for the management and supervision of oncology operations in six campuses, including radiation oncology, radiation nursing, and the radiation business office. Ms. Unto oversees clinical research, nurse navigation, genetic counseling, and psychosocial support programs. Additionally is oversees American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and NQMBC program accreditation  coordination, planning, and execution.

Previously she served as director of the University of Illinois Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, an outpatient academic oncology center and a Level 1 Trauma Center on the west side of Chicago, part of the University of Illinois academic and healthcare system. She was senior director of clinical operations for Seasons Hospice and Palliative in Illinois. Ms. Unto also served as director of cancer care and palliative care services at Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Dr. Kari Wisinski, an associate professor of Medicine, joined the University of Wisconsin (UW) School of Medicine and Public Health and the UW Carbone Cancer Center in 2008. Her clinical practice centers on the treatment of patients with breast cancer or at high risk for developing breast cancer. She is the physician lead for the breast high-risk clinic and medical director for the inpatient medical oncology service.

Dr. Wisinski’s research focuses on early-phase clinical trials for new agents for breast cancer.  She currently serves as the principal investigator (PI) or study chair on multiple clinical trials, including a CTEP-sponsored investigator-initiated phase I trial, two sub-protocols of the NCI MATCH study, and a R01 funded window-of-opportunity trial.  Since 2012, she has been co-director of the Wisconsin Oncology Network. This is a research network of academic and private practice oncology groups throughout Wisconsin. In 2014, she became co-leader of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium Breast Cancer Working Group and helped steer this network’s first breast cancer trials to activation.

She earned her medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She then completed her residency at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and a hematology and medical oncology fellowship at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Robert R. Buras, MD, general surgeon at the DeCesaris Cancer Institute at the Anne Arundal Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland. Dr Buras has 20 years of prior experience in the management of breast cancer and benign breast conditions. Prior to joining AAMC, Dr Buras served as the director of breast surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center. ​

His interest in breast cancer and cellular biology led to a faculty position at Georgetown University where he practiced surgical oncology primarily focused on the treatment of breast cancer.  During this time, he developed and ran a basic science research laboratory and secured NIH and American Cancer Society research grant funding to study the biology of breast cancer under the mentorship of Dr. Marc Lippman.

Dr. Buras received his medical degree from the University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences at the Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed a surgery residency from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, and completed a fellowship in complex general surgery for oncology at the City of Hope National Medical Center.

Kelly Gast, MD is a breast medical oncologist practicing at Saint Luke’s Cancer Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. Her clinical and research interests include cancer survivorship, symptom control, and management of treatment associated toxicities.

Dr Gast completed fellowship training in hematology and medical oncology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and internal medicine residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Joy Larsen Haidle, MS, CGC, is a genetic counselor at the North Memorial Health Cancer Center in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. She is a board-certified genetic counselor with more than 23 years of experience in counseling hereditary cancer genetics. She is also a policy and peer review consultant for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota and an expert resource for other Minnesota payers.

Haidle is a clinical preceptor in the Genetic, Cell Biology, and Development Department at the University of Minnesota. She has authored several practice guidelines and published articles on topics such as Lynch syndrome and juvenile polyposis. She has a special interest in public policy, appropriate utilization of genetic tests, and identifying individuals/families at increased cancer risk that might benefit from heightened surveillance or risk reduction.

Haidle received a master’s degree in human genetics from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, and a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa.

Lillian D. Shockney, RN, MAS, ONN-CG, is the co-founder and program director at the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) and is a university distinguished service professor of breast cancer and professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. A two-time breast cancer survivor, originally diagnosed in her 30s, Lillie has worked tirelessly to improve the care of breast cancer patients around the world.

Shockney serves on 28 medical advisory boards currently. She has authored 30 books and more than 350 articles on breast cancer, oncology navigation, survivorship, patient advocacy, communicating bad news, end of life, and most recently, chronic illness and complex care. She has received 61 awards—55 national awards and 6 state awards including being inducted into the Maryland Women Hall of Fame, Women in Business Healthcare Trailblazer Award, Johnson & Johnson’s Most Amazing Nurse in America award, National Komen for the Cure’s Professor of Survivorship award, and several national lifetime achievement awards. Her research area of focus is preservation of quality of life for patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Shockney received a master's degree in business administration from the Johns Hopkins University, a Bachelor of Science degree in healthcare administration from St. Joseph’s College, and a nursing diploma from MacQueens Gibbs Willis School of Nursing.

Rachel Yung, MD, is a medical oncologist at the Clinical Research Division of the Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington. Dr Yung studies new ways to treat breast cancer. She leads clinical trials that aim to identify unique signatures on cancer cells that could help improve outcomes and reduce side effects from treatments such as chemotherapy and hormone therapy. D. Yung also studies how lifestyle can influence the quality of care, patient-reported outcomes, prevention and survivorship of cancer.

Dr. Yung completed research and clinical fellowship training in medical oncology at Dana‐Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and internal medicine residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in New York City, New York. She received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.