Steering Committee

Laura J. Zitella, MS, RN, ACNP-BC, AOCN®, is a hematology/oncology nurse practitioner and associate clinical professor in the School of Nursing at the University of California San Francisco. Previously, she served as the lead advanced practice provider for inpatient hematology/oncology at Stanford Health Care, where she was responsible for the operations and management of an inpatient hematology/oncology medical service of advanced practice providers as well as program development, evidence-based practice, and quality improvement initiatives at the Stanford Cancer Institute and the Stanford Center for Advanced Practice. 

Ms. Zitella has practiced in the field for over 25 years, caring for patients with hematologic and oncologic malignancies receiving chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, investigational agents, hematopoietic cell transplantation, and supportive care. She has delivered hundreds of educational presentations to national and international audiences and authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, web courses, videos, and book chapters. Ms. Zitella co-edited the “Hematologic Malignancies in Adults” textbook, which was awarded an American Medical Writers Association Medical Book Award Honorable Mention. She also participated in the Immuno-Oncology Essentials Initiative which produced Care Step Pathways, patient education, and videos for the management of immunotherapy side effects.

Ms. Zitella is actively involved with the ACCC, the Advanced Practitioner Society of Hematology and Oncology, the Oncology Nursing Society, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the California Association of Nurse Practitioners. As a result of her dedication to patients, oncology care, and nurse practitioner professional practice, Ms. Zitella has received several honors, including the ONS Excellence in Medical Oncology Award, the DAISY Award, and the inaugural Stanford Health Care APP of the Year Award.

Ryan Weight, DO, MS, joined the University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty in 2019 as an assistant professor of medicine with a focus on the treatment of skin malignancies, including melanoma. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Weight served as an assistant professor of medicine at Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine in Philadelphia.  In 2017, Dr. Weight was appointed leader of the cutaneous malignancy service line within the melanoma division of medical oncology. Dr. Weight established and served as co-director of the Complex Cutaneous Oncology Multidisciplinary Clinic in the Center for Heritable and Connective Tissue Skin Diseases, which brought together dermatology and medical oncology services for the treatment of dysplastic nevus syndrome, patients with a genetic predisposition to skin cancer, erythema bullosum, and others.

Dr. Weight has an interest in the management of immune-related adverse events caused by immune-activating therapies commonly used for the treatment of skin cancers. He served as director of the Immuno-Oncology Clinical Working Group at Thomas Jefferson University (2016- 2018), and as principal investigator for a number of clinical trials focused on the treatment of melanoma, including early phase trials. He has co-authored a multi-center adjuvant study of Nivolumab for the treatment of resected high-risk melanoma patients.