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Gregory A. Otterson, MD, is a Professor of Internal Medicine, Associate Division Director for Education, Co-Director of the Thoracic Oncology Program for the Division of Medical Oncology. He is also the Associate Director for the Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program. He is an Attending Physician in Solid Tumor Oncology at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital & Richard J. Solove Research Institute at The Ohio State University.

Dr. Otterson received his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, District of Columbia. His postgraduate training included an internship and residency in internal medicine at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois and a fellowship in medical oncology in the Clinical Oncology Program at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Otterson is board certified in medical oncology and Internal Medicine.

Dr. Otterson is a member of the NCCN Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Panel and a cadre member of the CALGB Respiratory Core Committe and holds professional memberships with: The American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American College of Physicians.

Dr. Otterson has contributed to over 100 publications, including journals, manuscripts, book chapters, book reviews, and abstracts, and has lectured extensively on oncology.

Dr. Mary E. Reid joined the staff of Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) in 2002 as a Research Scientist in the Department of Epidemiology. She came to RPCI from the Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, AZ, where she served as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health and Co-Director of the Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program. She completed her doctoral training in Epidemiology and Cancer in 1998 at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
She has authored or co-authored more than 70 publications, serves as a regular reviewer for several cancer, nutrition and epidemiology journals and as a regular adhoc reviewer for several NCI grant mechanisms.

Deepa Subramaniam, MD, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University

Watch Dr. Keith Kelly discuss the value of early detection of lung cancer, how important it is to find lung cancer early, and how EarlyCDT-Lung may have impacted the life of a patient.

The Former NFL Duo is Rallying a Star-Studded List of Hollywood and Athletic Celebrities to Join Them in Their Personal Journey to Tackle Lung Cancer

Hank: I’m here to support Bonnie’s Foundation because Lung Cancer is personal to me. It has swooped in and attacked my dad, and I understand how brutally destructive this cancer is and how many people are waging war to battle it.

Chris: I am honored to be here and passionate about helping an organization like the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation that is leading the way, and pushing for immediate answers – not future hypotheses, for people like my wife, who never smoked and was in great physical shape, but was diagnosed with Lung Cancer and died less than a year later. Bonnie is demanding answers NOW!

Hank: Every breath you take-the fuel of your body starts with your lungs. So take care of your lungs because you’ll need them-more than you’ll ever imagine. Trust me.

Bonnie: I get the breathing thing…I know it first hand and I know what it feels like when you can’t. It is our FUEL. Without it, life is terribly compromised…just having the support of Chris and Hank takes my breath away-in the good way!

SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — While the U.S. Open was in full swing just 15 minutes away at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, 144 heroes including NFL stars Chris Draft and Hank Baskett were championing the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation’s Seventh Annual “Lung Cancer: Drive it off the Earth” Golf Tournament at Alistair MacKenzie-designed Green Hills Country Club. This year’s tournament raised more than $145,000 for this least-funded, yet most deadly cancer, which will go toward Lung Cancer research.
For both players, Lung Cancer is personal. Baskett, signed by the Colts and went on to play five years in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings, and the Philadelphia Eagles is helping his father battle the disease. Draft, played 12 years in the NFL for the Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, St. Louis Rams, and the Buffalo Bills recently lost his wife to the disease. Together, they are tackling Lung Cancer by raising awareness.

“We’re proud that Hank Baskett and Chris Draft are making a bold statement against Lung Cancer,” says Bonnie J. Addario, founder and a Lung Cancer survivor. “We’re so honored to have Hank and Chris-and their football and Hollywood friends-on our team helping to raise much-needed funding and awareness for Lung Cancer and the message that ANYONE CAN GET LUNG CANCER.”

The reception cocktail party, silent and live auctions and raffle proved that everyone was a winner. Addario, one of the rare Lung Cancer survivors and founder of the Foundation, welcomed Draft and Baskett into the Foundation’s family at dinner.

“I’m so proud to have Hank and Chris in our family,” said Bonnie. “Hank, I loved meeting your Dad at the tournament you held for us in May at the Trump National Golf Club. The only way I can describe him is he’s a GREAT BIG HUG and your mom is a pistol. The leadership and courage you and Chris are bringing to the team has grown way beyond the football field. Thank you for stepping up and helping us turn Lung Cancer into a manageable, survivable disease.”
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house after an airing of “Chris Draft, Love and Loss,” (http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7542826)-ESPN’s touching profile of Chris and his late wife Keasha, and their commitment to dance, smile, and live as they fought Lung Cancer together. As a former Charlotte Hornets Honeybee dancer and member of Clemson University’s Rally Cat dance squad, Keasha was an energetic vibrant young woman who had never smoked when she was diagnosed with Stage IV Lung Cancer in December 2010. At the time, her only “symptom” was a slight shortness of breath a few days earlier. Despite the diagnosis and knowing the long odds they faced, Keasha and Chris decided to fight back. On November 27, 2011, standing side-by-side, they launched Team Draft together at their wedding. One month later, Keasha lost her courageous fight and died at the age of 38.

“The only way to tackle the issue of Lung Cancer is to do it as a solid team bringing together everyone from the patients and caregivers to the researchers and the doctors who are demanding that the results so far are not good at all,” said Draft. “There’s no one group that has a monopoly on this and that is why I was drawn to Bonnie and the foundation because they are working as a team with (ALCMI) Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute and their Lung Cancer Living Room® series. (http://www.lungcancerfoundation.org/living-with-lung-cancer/lung-cancer-living-room/) What separates them is that Bonnie knows there is a sense of urgency. Keasha had one year from her diagnosis, so I don’t listen when someone says ‘we’re working on it.” That’s not good enough.”

First place winners of the sold-out tournament were Michael Vasquez, Greg Gabbani, Josh Lutz and many-time winner Eddie Hernandez with an astounding 54. Second place winners were Rich Deponte, Stan Colombo, Dan Poncabra and long-time faithful major donor Mo Townsley with a score of 55.

The tournament’s presenting sponsor’s team from the Burns Family Foundation and Mobius Fit was led by Rob Dean and the foursome including Dave Engel, Ross Headley and Jeff Lokey came in third with a score of 56 (26 back 9).

Dr. Gandara’s research interests focus on developmental therapeutics of new anti-cancer agents as well as preclinical modeling and clinical research in lung cancer. He is the principal investigator on an Early Therapeutics award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he leads an interdisciplinary team of clinical oncologists, pharmacologists, molecular biologists and statisticians in developing new anti-cancer agents in a variety of novel drug classes. He also leads a multi-specialty team in the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), an NCI-funded national clinical research organization, in studies related to improving therapies for lung cancer and developing predictive biomarkers of therapeutic efficacy. Dr. Gandara is also the UC Davis principal investigator for a multi-institutional collaboration (iGXT: integrated Genetically-engineered mouse models, patient-derived Xenografts, and Clinical Trials) between the NCI Center for Advanced Preclinical Research (CAPR) and Jackson Laboratory, an NCI-designated basic cancer center. The goal of this iGXT project is to develop better preclinical models to optimize cancer drug development and speed the transition to personalized cancer therapy.

Watch Cancer Treatment: Are Personalized Molecular Profiles in Our Future? on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Thierry Jahan, M.D. is the one of the region’s foremost and highly regarded thoracic oncologists. Dr. Jahan has devoted his life to treating patients with lung cancer, mesothelioma and sarcoma. In addition to his keen clinical insight, Dr. Jahan is known by patients, their families and fellow clinicians for his sense of empathy and compassion. His commitment to wiping out lung cancer can be seen in the pins and ribbons that adorn his white coat, a message of hope he carries symbolically to patients as they battle a cruel disease.
Dr. Jahan received his M.D. from George Washington University. He completed his residency and an internal medicine fellowship at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, followed by a fellowship in hematology and oncology at UCSF. In 1994, Dr. Jahan joined the UCSF faculty and later, with Dr. David M. Jablons, cofounded the Thoracic Oncology Program. Dr. Jahan currently holds the title of Associate Professor of Medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine.
Dr. Jahan has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Medical House Staff Outstanding Teacher Award and Friend of the Palliative Care Service Award. He is also a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American College of Physicians, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) and the Association of Northern California Oncologists.
Dr. Jahan has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and research abstracts and lectured nationally and internationally on lung cancer and mesothelioma. The San Francisco Chronicle, Time Magazine and KPIX in San Francisco have each sought out his insights and observations on the clinical and human side of battling serious life-threatening cancers.
Research Summary
Dr. Jahan is Principal Investigator on numerous thoracic oncology clinical trials. He has a particular interest in testing target therapies in non-small cell lung cancer malignant mesothelioma as either single agents or in combination with chemotherapy and/or radiation. Respond and Donate Today!

David M. Jablons M.D., FACS is the Ada Distinguished Professor in Thoracic Oncology, Chief of General Thoracic Surgery, and Program Leader of Thoracic Oncology at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer. He also is Director of the UCSF Thoracic Oncology Lab.
Dr. Jablons received his medical degree from Albany Medical College of Union University New York. In his fourth year of medical school, he won a prestigious preceptorship at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for clinical science training under Dr. Steven Rosenberg, a world-renowned surgical oncologist and tumor immunologist. This experience kindled his lifelong interest in translational science.
Dr. Jablons began his surgical residency at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston. He then completed his surgical oncology fellowship at NCI, focusing on tumor immunology and immunotherapy. Dr. Jablons received his advanced cardiothoracic training as a fellow under Dr. Wayne Isom at Cornell Medical Center (now New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center), and at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Medical Center under Dr. Robert Ginsburg. Dr. Jablons also trained with Dr. David Sugarbaker in lung transplantation at Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
In 1994, while on active duty in the U.S. Navy, Dr. Jablons served as a commander and Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the Naval Hospital at Oakland at Oak Knoll. In 1995, he was recruited by the UCSF Department of Surgery to build a world-class program in thoracic surgery and oncology. In 1997, Dr. Jablons was named Chief of General Thoracic Surgery.
Dr. Jablons co-founded the UCSF Thoracic Oncology Conference, the oldest such program of its kind and was co-Chair of the 13th World Conference on Lung Cancer in 2009. He is a member of numerous professional organizations including the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Association for Cancer Research and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Highly respected by his peers, Dr. Jablons was named to the list of U.S. News “America’s Top Doctors,” a distinction reserved for the top 1% of physicians in the nation for a given specialty.
Dr. Jablons was recently inducted into the American Surgical Society, the nation’s oldest most prestigious surgical organization with membership comprised of world-renowned surgeons from leading academic medical institutions including many Department of Surgery Chairs.
Research Summary
Soon after his arrival, Dr. Jablons recruited basic scientists Biao He, Ph.D., Zhidong Xu, Ph.D., and Liang You, Ph.D. to form the nucleus of the Thoracic Oncology Laboratory. Key areas of research include isolation of lung cancer stems cells, the Wnt pathway in lung cancer and mesothelioma, inflammation in carcinogenesis, and the underlying molecular biology of thoracic malignancies.
The lab recently added four new principal investigators Il-Jin Kim, Ph.D., Hassan Lemjabbar-Alaoui. Ph.D., Carlo C. Maley, Ph.D., and Minh To, Ph.D. creating a formidable research enterprise focused on drug target discovery, commercialization of novel therapeutics and development of genomic assays based on predictive and prognostic biomarkers.

Adriene Kinnaird, MBA
Director, Oncology Services Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady
The care of cancer patients necessitates providing a wide array of modalities, all of which contribute to the overall treatment program. Cancer treatment has been perceived by many individuals to be made up of combinations of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. The term “advances in treatment” is most often used to signify new surgical techniques, new drugs or drug combinations and radiation treatments that enhance the duration of survival.
However, for many patients and their families, the price that is exacted in their battle against cancer is often much more than decreasing the duration of life. The struggle with cancer takes not only a physical toll but also a psychological
toll. The loss of control, the fatigue, the loss of body image, the loss of the will to live may be almost as detrimental as the disease itself.
At the Cancer Center, we have placed considerable emphasis on providing the most effective and most innovative treatments for patients with cancer.
Gathered under the auspices of the GCCE are a wide range of specialists in Medical Oncology, GYN/Oncol- ogy, Surgical and Radiation Oncology.
Cancer care for those at the Cancer Center is more than just treatment with a new technology or drugs. It begins with the potential to offer the patient the most appropriate therapy and is enhanced with the use of multi-disciplinary consultation and collaborative care.
We are placing needed emphasis on other areas that can dramatically influence a patient’s outcome. Education is a critical component of cancer treatment because an informed patient and family can more effectively make decisions relevant to the patient’s disease. Maintaining self-image is crucial to the mental well-being of the patients, and our image recovery program is integrated into the treatment planning for most patients. Our departments of social work, pathology, and rehabilitation are critical and integral to the treatment of the patient. They contribute as part of a multi-disciplinary team to enhance the lives of the patients who have entrusted their well-being to the staff at the GCCE.

Stephanie Grossman, M.D.
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, Emory University
Director of Palliative Care at Emory University Hospital and Emory University Hospital Midtown
Dr. Grossman received her M.D. at Hahnemann University of Philadelphia and completed residency in Internal Medicine at University of California Irvine Medical Center. Dr. Grossman is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine.