Speaker Biographies

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Jimmy Hwang, MD, is a practicing GI oncologist and Director of the Hematology/Oncology Clinical Fellowship Program at the Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.  Dr. Hwang completed medical school, his residency, and fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. At Lombardi, he is actively involved in increasing the scope of the GI Oncology Services as well as the Developmental Therapeutics Program under Dr. John Marshall. Dr. Hwang has a particular interest in targeted therapies and drug resistance research in lung and GI cancers. His specialties are hematology/oncology as well as pediatric gastroenterology.

Michael A. Choti, MD, MBA, FACS, is the Jacob C. Handelsman Professor of Abdominal Surgery and Chief of the Handelsman Division of Surgical Oncology in the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins University. He is principal or co-investigator for a variety of clinical and preclinical studies examining new approaches for the treatment of liver, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer.  Dr. Choti is also the Director of the Johns Hopkins Colon Cancer Center.  Dr. Choti holds various leadership positions in national and international societies and has chaired study sections for the American Cancer Society. He currently serves on the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer and is on the Colorectal Cancer Panel for the National Cancer Coalition Network. One focus of his research involves the use of robotics and computer assistance to surgically attack cancer using minimally invasive image-guided approaches.  He also has a strong interest in clinical research, conducting clinical trials and outcomes research in the hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and gastrointestinal malignancies.

Neil K. Goldstein, MD graduated from SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine and completed his residency training in Diagnostic Radiology at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Staten Island, NY.  He completed fellowship training in Vascular and Interventional Radiology at the University of California, Irvine in 2000 and is Board Certified with subspecialty certification (CAQ) in Interventional Radiology.  Dr. Goldstein has worked in private practice in California and Phoenix, as well as academic practice at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.  He has been involved in the education and training of residents and fellows in Interventional Radiology for the past four years.  After relocating to Phoenix and working at St. Joseph’s since November 2004, he has been on staff full-time in the Interventional Radiology section since May, 2006. Dr. Goldstein’s expertise and interests include the gamut of peripheral endovascular interventions, trauma embolization, hepatobiliary and genitourinary interventions, pre and post transplantation procedures, venous and arterial thrombolysis, TIPS, and uterine fibroid embolization.  His practice includes a significant amount of work in the area of Interventional Oncology, the wide range of minimally invasive procedures which have become fundamental to the treatment of patients with cancer.

Loretta Williams, DSN, RN, OCN, AOCN, is an instructor in the Department of Symptom Research at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and an Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse.  She has worked in oncology nursing for 27 years.  She is especially interested in the measurement of symptoms, the biological mechanisms of symptom production, the effects of genetics on symptoms, the effects of symptoms on family caregivers of cancer patients, and ethical issues in research.  Dr. Williams has studied the effects of serum cytokine levels on symptoms in patients with lung and gastrointestinal tract cancers undergoing concurrent chemoradiation and in patients with leukemia undergoing stem cell transplantation.  She is currently studying the experience of cancer-related fatigue with a grant from Cephalon, Inc.  She is also developing a symptom assessment tool for patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease following stem cell transplantation.  Dr. Williams is actively involved in the Oncology Nursing Society.  She is a current member of the ONS Multi-site Research Advisory Panel and is on the Planning Team for the 2007 ONS Leadership Development Institute and also the chairperson of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Patient Advocate Foundation/ National Patient Advocate Foundation and an NIH fellow in 2002 at the National Institute of Nursing Research Summer Genetics Institute.  Dr. Williams was the recipient of an American Cancer Society Scholarship for doctoral study in oncology nursing.

Randy Lopez is a stage IV colon cancer survivor. Diagnosed at the age of 35, he has appeared in various publications and feature articles including a campaign for M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Orlando, Florida. Mr. Lopez was previously the spokesperson for CCA’s Roots of Support Campaign along with Olympic Champion Dara Torres.  He also speaks regularly on his journey with cancer using humor to speak to those who might not normally want to hear about cancer awareness.  With CCA, he was also a member of the Board of Directors. Recently, Randy was featured in the CNN special presentation “Surviving Cancer” hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Lance Armstrong.  Professionally, he has held executive marketing positions in various organizations including Buca di Beppo, TGI Friday’s and Del Taco.  Currently, he is Vice President National Accounts for Fishbowl Marketing. 

Eden Stotsky BS, BSN(c), is a nine and a half year survivor of Stage 3 rectal cancer.  She works at the Johns Hopkins Colon Cancer Center where she focuses on educating patients, the community, as well as healthcare professionals about colorectal cancer.  As a patient navigator and educator for newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients, her goal is to make each patient’s journey with cancer less stressful by providing a wide range of support for them.  In the community, she focuses on the importance of screening, prevention, and early detection of colorectal cancer.  She also spreads the message that colorectal cancer can affect people under the age of 50.  She has a special interest in children and young adults with cancer, living with and beyond cancer, the mental and physical effects of a cancer diagnosis, as well as death and dying. For the work that she does with cancer patients, Eden was awarded the American Cancer Society’s Lane Adams Quality of Life Award.  In her volunteer life, she sits on the Board of Directors of the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults and is an active volunteer with the American Cancer Society.  She is a member of the Colon Cancer Alliance and will always remember the support she received from them, specifically Amy Kelly, when she was diagnosed with rectal cancer.  Eden is currently working on her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and plans to graduate in 2009.

Anne A. McVey, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University, where she holds a joint appointment in the Departments of Psychiatry and Internal Medicine, and the Division of Hematology and Oncology.  Dr. McVey received her BA in Latin American Studies from the University of Minnesota and both her MS in Family Studies and PhD in Clinical Psychology from Purdue University.  She did her clinical and research fellowships in Cancer Prevention and Control at the University of Wisconsin.  Dr. McVey has over 20 years of experience as a therapist.  Currently, she works with individual cancer patients and their families, and facilitates monthly support groups, including groups for spouses/significant others of prostate cancer survivors, breast cancer survivors and individuals with kidney disease.  Dr. McVey’s research focuses on quality of life for cancer patients, specifically on the effects of cancer and its treatments on cognitive and sexual functioning.

Carolyn Katzin, MS, CNS is a certified nutrition specialist with twenty-one years of experience in clinical nutrition with an emphasis on optimizing health and wellness.   Carolyn is nutritionist for Eisenhower’s Lucy Curci Cancer Center in Rancho Mirage, CA.  Carolyn’s private nutrition practice is based in Los Angeles where she consults at UCLA.  She is a lead volunteer with the American Cancer Society serving on their national nutrition, physical activity and cancer control workgroup, and is current co-chair of the California Division physician engagement team.  Carolyn is a media spokesperson on nutrition and physical activity for the Society.  Carolyn’s other community volunteer activities include serving on the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness & Sports Advisory Board as a representative of the American Cancer Society.  She is a member of The Wellness Community Westside Medical and Professional Advisory Board and is member and past chair of the Dean's Advisory Board for UCLA's School of Public Health.  Carolyn enjoys good food and wine and has a background in fine dining.  Carolyn appreciates the emotional and physical aspects of weight control and has studied with some of the finest teachers in integrative approaches to health.  Her specialized knowledge includes the emerging field of nutrigenomics.  She is the author of three books and is working on her fourth, "The DNA Diet™."  

Nancy Harazduk, MEd, MSW, is the director of the Mind-Body-Medicine Program at Georgetown University, School of Medicine in Washington, DC.  To integrate Mind-Body Medicine into the medical school curriculum, she directs and teaches a Mind-Body Medicine course for medical school students and faculty.  She has also developed a Professional Training Program in Mind-Body Medicine for healthcare professionals.  As a presenter, facilitator and supervisor, of this program, Ms. Harazduk has trained hundreds of healthcare professionals in Mind-Body Medicine.  She has coordinated and led Mind-Body Medicine groups for people with cancer, depression, chronic illness, and severe stress. In addition, she has done extensive work with chronically and terminally ill people at the National Institutes of Health and at Hospice.  Ms.Harazduk has completed postgraduate training in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction with Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, Mind-Body Medicine training with Herbert Benson, MD and Past Life Regression training with Brian Weiss, MD. She is certified in Interactive Guided Imagery by the Academy of Guided Imagery in Mill Valley, California. Ms. Harazduk maintains a psychotherapy practice specializing in Mind-Body therapies in Chevy Chase, Maryland.