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.
Pablo Gutman, MD, MBA, is Chairman of the Pathology Department and Medical Director of the Cancer Institute at Holy Cross Health (a 500+ bed hospital system in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area). He is Board Certified in Anatomical Pathology, Clinical Pathology, Hematopathology and Cytopathology. As a pathologist, he has become particularly interested in optimizing tissue acquisition and processing for diagnosis and molecular testing of tumors, as well as simplifying and integrating molecular data into pathology reports and the electronic medical record. As Medical Director of the Cancer Institute at Holy Cross Health, he is heavily involved in strategic and operational aspects of running one of the busiest Cancer Centers in the State of Maryland. In his somewhat limited free time, Dr, Gutman enjoys sailing, woodworking, hiking, and spending time with his family both in the U.S. and abroad.
Arnela Kajdic-Tarantino, CTFC, is a program manager and liaison between revenue cycle, internal contracting, and clinic and patient financial advocates at the Center for Blood Cancer Therapy at St. Luke's Cancer Institute. She created and implemented training workflows for patient financial advocates specific to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapies as well as bone marrow and stem cell transplant. Additionally, Kajdic-Tarantino co-leads the revenue cycle workgroup in initiatives and implementation stages of the CAR T-cell therapy program at St. Luke's Cancer Institute.
Kajdic-Tarantino has worked in the medical field for 18 years. In her role at a community pharmacy, Kajdic-Tarantino developed a passion for helping patients with financial toxicity. She started as a patient financial advocate for an individual who was receiving a bone marrow transplant and has continued to address the financial toxicity experienced by oncology patients. Kajdic-Tarantino does so while supporting various departments in understanding patients from all angles (eg, registration, financial advocacy, prior authorization, in-network contracts, billing), with a patient-centered focus.
Kajdic-Tarantino is a member of the Association of Cancer Care Centers Financial Advocacy Network Initiatives Task Force and has participated in the CANCER BUZZ podcast. She graduated from Boise State University with a bachelor’s degree in health science with a psychology minor.
Nikki Martin is Senior Director of Precision Medicine Initiatives where she focuses on accelerating access to precision medicine, especially biomarker testing, for lung cancer patients. Nikki came into patient advocacy from multiple roles in public affairs and communications at diagnostic and biotech companies including Genentech, Novartis Diagnostics, and Grifols where she collaborated with patient advocacy groups and other stakeholders on a variety of global health issues. She believes that patient advocacy organizations play an essential role in convening influential entities from government to providers, payers, and industry, which can lead to critical work with long-lasting impact on patient care. Nikki started her career in healthcare communications in Japan where she advised healthcare clients on public relations activities in the Japanese market.
Jan Nowak, MD, PhD, is clinical chief of molecular pathology and professor of oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Nowak is certified in molecular genetic pathology and anatomic and clinical pathology. His areas of expertise include anatomic, clinical, and molecular pathology; laboratory management; laboratory regulatory oversight; and laboratory and professional services coding and reimbursement.
Dr. Nowak obtained his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and doctorate in biophysics from the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York.
Chicago, ILVivian Pan, MS, LCGC, is the director of genetic counseling services and manager of the cancer genetics program at Cook County Health and Hospitals System in Illinois. Prior to joining Cook County Health and Hospitals System, Ms. Pan led the Translational Research Core at Kaiser Permanente Research Bank. She is an active member of the Illinois Society for Genetic Professionals, Midwest Genetics Network, National Society of Genetic Counselors, and the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling. Ms. Pan is also a faculty member, a clinical supervisor, and co-coordinator of the Research Methods course for the Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling at Northwestern University. Her professional and research interests include implementation of genomic medicine in clinical care, access/delivery of genetic counseling services, and health equity.
She received her master’s degree in genetic counseling from Northwestern University.
Kelly Terrell is a registered nurse at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital & Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri. She received a Bachelor of Science degree at Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College, Saint Louis, in 2011, and earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Webster University, Saint Louis, in March of 2017. Her previous experience as a BMT Staff Nurse, Nursing Supervisor, Transplant Coordinator, and Clinical Nurse Manager led to her current role as Clinical Program Manager with the Division of Leukemia, Lymphoma, Cell Therapy & Stem Cell Transplantation. She currently resides in Saint Louis with her husband Charlie and their three children.
Emily Gentry, BSN, RN, HON-ONN-CG, OCN, is Senior Director of Education and Program Development for the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators.
Prior to joining the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+), Ms. Gentry served as Navigation Director, Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute at Medical City Healthcare in Dallas/Fort Worth, which provides world-class cancer care and access to leading-edge therapies for patients across North Texas.
Ms. Gentry has been engaged in supporting cancer patients and their families for more than 30 years. Across her oncology career, she has worked as an oncology and hematology nurse at the bedside, a chemo-infusion nurse, a research study nurse, navigator, patient education leader, community outreach liaison, and oncology program director, leading care teams that support cancer patients and their family members. A graduate of the Baylor University School of Nursing, she joined HCA in 2014 after a 28-year career with the Baylor Healthcare System. While at Baylor, she collaborated with colleagues to develop and grow the organization’s efforts with cancer survivorship and patient navigation, working first with Baylor Medical Center Dallas and then Baylor Medical Center Plano. She was recognized as Nurse of the Year in 2011 with Baylor Medical Center Plano. She developed numerous community-facing programs while at Baylor and with HCA to support cancer patients and their families. In addition to Ms. Gentry’s professional oncology work, she enjoys serving the community as a volunteer with the American Cancer Society, North Texas Komen, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Ms. Gentry served on the AONN+ Leadership Council in 2016 and founded the local AONN+ chapter in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in 2013. She is a current chapter member of the Oncology Nursing Society and North Texas AONN+, and currently serves on the national AONN+ National Conference Planning team. She has worked over the past several years to elevate the relevance and define the role of the oncology nurse navigator within the community hospital setting. Her focus is on building processes and defining outcomes that will enable nurse navigators to work as part of an integrated care team.
Ms. Gentry’s passion is in mentorship and building collaborative teams to ensure professional self-care, while providing quality oncology patient care. Currently, she is involved in quality improvement projects focusing on compassion fatigue and professional health. In 2018, Ms. Gentry contributed to the book entitled Team-Based Oncology Care: The Pivotal Role of Oncology Navigation. This resource provides expertise from members of the AONN+ Leadership Council. Ms. Gentry’s contributions focus on compassion fatigue and community outreach. She has facilitated and spoken nationally on the importance of proactively building strategies that address the importance of assessing burnout in the oncology nurse navigator profession.
In addition, Ms. Gentry is collaborating with a multidisciplinary team to address the psychosocial oncology needs of cancer survivors, serving as a co-investigator for a qualitative research study focusing on survivorship quality of life.
Karen E. Hurley, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist specializing in psycho-oncology and hereditary cancer risk at the Cleveland Clinic. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from Temple University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in cancer prevention and control at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She is a member of several national advisory boards, including FORCE, Bright Pink, Sharsheret, and the Cancer Support Community. She is also an active associate member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors. In 2014 she received a Spirit of Empowerment-Individual Commitment award at the 8th Annual FORCE conference, in recognition of her work on behalf of the hereditary cancer community.
Claire’s current role at the Cancer Support Community (CSC) focuses on sharing CSC’s patient insights externally and ensuring the patient experience remains central to all that CSC does. Prior to becoming VP of Patient Experience, Claire led CSC’s national patient education and outreach efforts for 5 years. The award-winning Frankly Speaking About Cancer education programs were co-created with cancer patients & caregivers. Programs were culturally-adapted to meet the needs of specific populations and speakers of multiple languages and produced in a variety of print, digital, and in-person formats.
Claire came to CSC from the Urology Care Foundation, where she managed national patient education programs and disease awareness campaigns with partners including the National Football League. As Executive Director of the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, Claire developed the first National Bladder Cancer Awareness Day. While the Executive Director of the Breast Cancer Resource Center in Austin, Texas, she doubled their patient advocacy and outreach programs. Claire began her work in health advocacy while part of the team that opened the National Domestic Violence Hotline in 1996.
Claire holds an MBA from the University of Oregon and an undergraduate degree from Rice University.