Below is a partial listing of the National Cervical Cancer Coalition's (NCCC) Medical Advisory Panel. The members of the NCCC Medical Advisory Panel are dedicated to furthering research and treatment efforts in the area of gynecological cancer, with a special concern in improving the cervical cancer screening programs both nationally and internationally. The Medical Advisory Panel will play a vital role in overseeing the direction and content of the National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NCCC). Juan Carlos Felix, MD is the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Panel.
Sarina Araujo
Executive Director
Alan Kaye
NCCC & GIAHC cofounder
Chair, Board of Directors
The members of the Medical Advisory Panel have hundreds of publications between them. Contact NCCC offices for additional information on individual members.
Chairman
Juan Carlos Felix
Medical Chairman, NCCC & GIAHC
Medical Advisory Panel
Dr. Felix's academic appointments include being an associate professor of pathology and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Southern California (USC) School of Medicine. He is also the Chief of Ob-Gyn Pathology and Director of Surgical Pathology at Los Angeles County Women's and Children's Hospital. Dr. Felix lectures both Pathology students and postgraduate courses on female genitourinary tract, GYN/reproductive system, gynecological and obstetrical pathology, immunohistochemistry and molecular biology/PCR.
He has been an invited speaker both nationally and internationally on human papillomavirus in the female genital tract and on Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedures (LEEP). Dr. Felix's major areas of research are investigation in human papillomavirus, pathogenesis and pathology, diagnosis and treatment of preinvasive lesions of the uterine tract, pathology of endometrial adenocarcinoma and its precursors and the effect of estrogen replacement therapy on the endometrium of postmenopausal women.
In Alphabetical Order:
Raquel D. Arias, MD
USC Keck School of Medicine
Women’s and Children’s Hospital
Dr. Arias is the Associate Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology for the University of Southern California School of Medicine and Women's and Children's Hospital. Her specific teaching responsibilities include lectures on topics such as Vaginitis and Breast Disease. She is a past advisory board member of the National Mammography QA Advisory Board, Rockville, Maryland and was appointed to the California Medical Board in 1997. She has been an Expert Consultant for the Medical Board of California, Division of Medical Quality. As an invited teaching lecturer, Dr. Arias has presented talks on Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding, Contraception, Management of Menopause, Evaluation and Treatment of Breast Disease, Estrogen Replacement and the Latina Patient Barriers to Care, Chronic Pelvic Pain and PMS, Pap smears and Mammograms and Intrauterine Contraception.
Heidi M. Bauer, MD, MS, MPH.
University of California, San Francisco
California Department of Public Safety
Heidi Bauer, MD, MS, MPH is the Chief of the Program Development and Evaluation Section for the California Department of Public Health Sexually Transmitted Disease Control Program. She has faculty appointments in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco and the University of California at Berkeley.
She received her Master of Public Health from UC Berkeley; and after completing a Master of Science at UC Berkeley, she went on to complete her medical training at UCSF School of Medicine. She completed a residency in Preventive Medicine at UCSF and is board-certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine.
In her current position, she designs public health research and programs to reduce the burden of STDs in California, develops curricula and conducts clinical training, and provides care for STD patients. She is the principle investigator or the HPV Vaccine Impact project and the co-chair for the California HPV Vaccine Workgroup.
George Garland Birdsong, M.D.
Grady Health System
Emory University School of Medicine
Dr. Birdsong holds an academic appointment as Associate Professor of Pathology, Emory University School of Medicine. His Clinical Appointments include Director of Cytology, Grady Health System, Atlanta, GA and medical Director of Comprehensive Breast Center, Grady Health System.
Dr. Birdsong was Chairman of the Ethics Committee for the American Society of Cytology (ASC) in 1991. He is the current Chairman of the ASC committee to Follow Legislative and Regulatory Proceedings and since 1992 he has been the Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee at Emory University School of Medicine, Dept. of Pathology. Dr. Birdsong was a member of the Hematology and Pathology Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 1994-1998.
Dr. Birdsongs research focus is on improving the accuracy and reliability of cervical cancer screening with the Papanicolaou (Pap) smear through automation, ancillary testing and improved quality assurance. He has studied the use of liquid-based monolayer preparations of cervical cytology specimens and testing for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) as one possible modality to achieve these goals. Dr. Birdsong is an invited lecturer on advances in cervical cancer screening, new cervical cancer technology and Pathology and the Internet. He has numerous published research articles. Dr. Birdsong received his Medical Degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and completed his residency and cytopathology fellowship at Emory University Affiliated Hospitals, Atlanta, Georgia.
Anna R. Giuliano, Ph.D.
Professor of Epidemiology
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
University of South Florida
Research Interests
Dr. Giuliano's research focus is on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) related carcinogenesis. Currently, her research has three funded components. One is the study of the natural history of HPV infections in men. This NCI funded prospective cohort study is actively recruiting men internationally and examining the molecular virological and immunological response to HPV infection over a four year follow-up period in 3,000 men. The second NCI funded study is examining whether a summary measure of oxidant load (anti-HmdU auto-antibodies) is associated with the natural history of HPV infections. If associated, this compound may serve as a novel biomarker to use in addition to HPV testing to predict wom en at the greatest risk of lesion development and subsequent need for costly repeat screening and diagnostic follow-up procedures. The third study supported by Merck & Co., a Phase IIII randomized controlled clinical trial, is assessing the efficacy of the quadravalent HPV (types 6, 11, 16, 18) vaccine trial among men.
Shobha Krishnan, MD.
Barnard Health Services, Columbia University
Cofounder & President of of NCCC's GIAHC Program
Shobha Krishnan, MD is a board certified family physicianand gynecologist at Barnard Health Services, Columbia University. Afterreceiving training in Obstetrics/Gynecology (India) and Family Medicine at St.Vincent Hospital and Healthcare Center, Indianapolis, Dr. Krishnan went intoprivate practice for 10 years. Duringthis time, she also served as a surveillance physician for The Centers forDisease Control and Prevention. In 1999, she moved to New York and joined Barnard.
Dr.Krishnan has been involved in the area of primary care and women̢'s health forover 25 years. She has extensive experience both nationally and internationallyin the field of HPV and HPV related diseases. As a physician, parent andauthor, she is well aware of the prevailing attitudes when sex, science, andthe morals of society intersect. Her vast experience and expertise in thisfield have given her a unique perspective on the various issues related to HPV- ranging from the physical impactto the emotional upheaval.
She is currently developing a cervical cancer awareness/screening project in India with thehelp of non-governmental organizations and mobilizing interns fromthe U.S. to facilitate the process. She is on the Medical AdvisoryBoard of our NCCC and will be working with NCCC's National and International armto open grassroots Chapters around the world in order to increase awarenessabout cervical cancer and HPV related diseases.
Dr Krishnan is the author of theaward-winning book, The HPV Vaccine Controversy: Sex, Cancer, God andPolitics: A Guide for Parents, Women, Men and Teenagers. Her book has beenwidely reviewed and recommended both in the U.S and abroad to professionals andthe public alike (http://www.thehpvbook.com/). She donates a portion of the proceedsof her book to the NCCC. Her bookis also the recipient of the Book of the Year Award 2009 from the AmericanJournal of Nursing in the Public Interest and Creative Writing category.Dr. Krishnan lives in New York City with herhusband and daughter. She isfluent in English, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Kannada. Her interests includetraveling, singing, reading and cross-training.
Alexander Meisels, MD, FRCPC, FIAC.
Laval University, Quebec, Canada
Born in Berlin, Germany, he received his early schooling in Paris, France, and later attended the National University of Mexico, where he obtained his B.Sc. and M.D. He specialised first in diagnostic cytology at the National Cancer Institute of Mexico and later in pathology at Laval University, Quebec, Canada. He became Assistant Professor of Pathology and Head of the Cytodiagnostic Laboratory at Laval University in 1960, where he also founded the School of Cytotechnology. Named Associate Professor in 1965, he became a Full Professor in 1968.
In 1970 he was named Head of Cytopathology at the Saint-Sacrement Hospital in Quebec City (a teaching institution affiliated with Laval University) with an annual volume of about 160,000 cytology specimens. From 1978 to 1995 he was Head of the Department of Anatomic Pathology and Cytology at the same institution. The School of Cytotechnology "Alexander Meisels" now functions within that Department at Saint-Sacrement Hospital and is part of the course in Medical Technology of the Sainte-Foy College.
He is certified in Anatomic Pathology by the Quebec Corporation of Physicians and Surgeons, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the American Board of Pathology.
Treasurer and Past-President of the International Academy of Cytology, previously Secretary-Treasurer of the IAC (1971-1986), twice President of the Canadian Society of Cytology, Past-President of the Canadian Association of Pathologists (1988-1989), and Past-President of the American Society of Cytopathology (1991-1992). Secretary or President of six International Congresses of Cytology (Miami 1974, Tokyo 1977, Munich 1980, Montreal 1983, Brussels 1986, Buenos Aires 1989). He is Editor of ACTA CYTOLOGICA and member of many national and international scientific societies. He is the author of over 130 publications in the field of cytopathology and cancer, including books: Cytopathology of the Uterine Cervix (ASCP Press, Chicago, 1991) and Cytopathology of the Uterus (ASCP Press, 1997).
His main interest has been the viral etiology of cervical cancer. His publications on the Human Papillomavirus (1976) were the first to relate this virus to genital cancer and stimulated the interest in this field, which has not abated since then. He has also worked extensively on detection of carcinoma of the endometrium, the breast, and the lung, amongst others.
He is a recipient of the following awards and distinctions: The Maurice Goldblatt Cytology Award of the International Academy of Cytology (1975); The Silver Medal of the City of Paris (1977); the George N. Papanicolaou Award of the American Society of Cytopathology (1982), Doctor honoris causa, the University of the Basque Country, Spain (1997) and Emeritus Professor, Laval University, Quebec, Canada (1998).
Bradley J. Monk MD, FACS, FACOG
UC Irvine School of Medicine
Gynecologic Oncologist
Dr. Monk received his medical degree from the University of Arizona in 1988 where he graduated at the top of his class. He then underwent training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California, Los Angeles between 1988 and 1992, and Gynecologic Oncology at the University of California Irvine (UCI) between 1992 and 1995. In 1995, he was appointed the Director of Gynecology Oncology at Texas Tech University and Associate Director of the Southwest Cancer Center where he served until 1998. Since 1998, he has been a member of the faculty at UCI where he currently is Associate Professor (with Tenure). He is board certified in both Obstetrics and Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. He is also an active full member of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the American Association of Cancer Research.
Dr. Monk has been an Investigator for the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) since 1995 and serves on the Cervical, Tissue Utilization, Publications, and Vaccine Committees. He is the Co-Principal Investigator for the GOG at UCI and Study Chair for both group wide phase III trials in cervical carcinoma and also serves as the study chair or co-chair for four other trials investigating new therapies in cervical and ovarian cancer. Dr. Monk has received career development funding (K-23) from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to investigate new strategies against HPV related illnesses and, in addition, is funded by the NCI to study therapeutic HPV vaccines. Dr. Monk has over 75 peer-review publications predominantly dealing with the areas of cervical and ovarian cancer prevention, therapeutics as well as issues related to quality of life. He has also published nine book chapters and is on the Editorial Board for Gynecologic Oncology and is currently President of the Orange County OB-GYN Society.
Cheryl L. Rock, PhD, RD, FADA
UCSD-Cancer Prevention/Nutrition
Dr. Cheryl Rock is an Associate professor in the Department of Family and preventive Medicine and the Cancer prevention and Control program, at the University of California, San Diego. She received her doctoral degree in nutritional sciences from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), School of Public Health.
Dr. Rock's primary NIH-funded research efforts are focused on the role of nutritional and dietary factors in the development and progression of cancer, particularly breast and cervical cancer, in humans. She is mainly involved in diet intervention trials, in which individuals are taught to make dietary and behavioral changes, and various biological markers and biochemical indicators of diet are used to examine progress and outcome. Her previous research efforts have also addressed eating pathology and weight concerns in women. Dr. Rock is a recognized nutritional scientist with a particular expertise in carotenoids, vitamins, clinical nutrition, and weight control. To date, Dr. Rock has authored or co-authored 50 peer-reviewed papers, 12 reviews and invited commentaries in professional and scientific publications, and 17 book chapters. She currently serves on editorial boards for several peer-reviewed journals and has been an invited participant in several NIH review committees, workshops, and meetings.
Thomas Carr Wright, Jr., MD.
Columbia University
Dr. Wright's current Academic Appointments are as Associate Attending in Pathology at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and Associate Professor of Pathology. He is the Associate Director, Division of Obstetrical and Gynecological Pathology at Presbyterian Hospital. Past Academic Appointments have included being Assistant professor in Pathology at Harvard university. Dr. Wright graduated Harvard Medical School (cum laude) in 1977. His postdoctoral training included being a resident, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Boston, Massachusetts and Fellow, Division of Ob/Gyn Pathology, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University; New York, New York.
Dr. Wright is a member of national committees and panels such as: Centers for Disease Control, member of Expert panel on Cervical Disease and HIV infection (1992), International Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology-Chairman of Cytology Committee (1995 - current) and a member of their Educational Committee, National Institute of Health- AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) Member of HPV Task Force (1995 - current), and National Institutes of Health-Center for Disease Control and Prevention USPHS-Guidelines for Prophylaxis of Opportunistic Infections in patients with HIV infection Committee (1996- current). He has also been a participant on panel discussions with the World Health Organization and the American Public Health Association. Dr. Wright has received several Awards and Honors in his field, is a member of related national medical societies, has numerous original publications and has a major research interest in the Pathogenesis and treatment of cervical intaepithelial neoplasia.
