Samir S. Taneja, MD

Danielle DePeralta, MD, FACS is double board-certified in surgery and surgical oncology, with dual fellowship training in complex surgical oncology and hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery. She specializes in surgical treatment of diseases of the liver, pancreas, and gastrointestinal tract. Named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor in 2021 and 2022, Dr. DePeralta is a leader in her field and is an active member of the Society of Surgical Oncology, American College of Surgeons and International Hepatopancreatobiliary Association. She is the Northwell Physician Champion for the Canopy Cancer Collective, a multi-center team that focuses on improving care for patients with pancreatic cancer. She is also heavily involved in clinical trials and innovations related to cancer care, including regional therapies that target cancer that has spread but is still localized to the liver or peritoneal cavity. She was instrumental in bringing pressurized intraperitoneal aerosolized chemotherapy (PIPAC)-a treatment that can help those with few options-to New York. Long Island Jewish Medical Center is now one of only three sites in the nation to offer such therapy.Treating some of the most aggressive cancers, Dr. DePeralta knows she's seeing patients at their most vulnerable moments. While focusing on giving them their lives back, she often forms close relationships with her patients. "I try to treat all of my patients the way that I hope someone would care for my mother, my husband, my son," she says.Connecting with patients meaningfully is important to Dr. DePeralta, who has a special interest in the human side of medicine. She studied philosophy in college alongside molecular biology and biochemistry. She also completed a medical ethics fellowship during her surgical residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Her training has taken her around the world to Uganda, Panama and India, which has fueled her interest in global health and quality health care for all.Her compassion is also shared by her team, from the care navigators and office staff to the nurses and residents. "We're very lucky to be so well-supported with a great team that cares a lot about our patients," Dr. DePeralta says.Having a team like this serves to strengthen the bonds with her patients, who she learns from each day. "They teach me that you have to keep trying-keep pushing and it's my job to keep supporting them.It's extremely rewarding to treat someone who was very sick, who you see a year down the road is cancer-free and living a normal life."

Michael Schulder, MD, is the vice chair of neurosurgery at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center. He is also the director of the Brain Tumor Center at the Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery-which treats more than 600 patients annually-and co-director of the Center for Stereotactic Radiosurgery, where his team offers the latest treatment technologies. His research focuses on improving methods of image guidance for brain tumor surgery, and on new techniques for radiosurgery."I've always been fascinated by the workings of the brain and how it gives rise to our thoughts, memories and personalities in ways that aren't fully understood," Dr. Schulder says. He attended medical school at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and completed his residency in neurological surgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Schulder also trained in stereotactic neuro-oncology at the University of Florida and the Brigham and Women's Hospital.Dr. Schulder works with neuro-oncologists, radiation oncologists and other neurosurgeons to create evidence-based treatment plans. "We offer close multidisciplinary collaboration to help avoid delay in seeing patients," he says. The team strives to offer minimally invasive treatments as often as possible.With a keen interest in neurosurgical image guidance-the use of real-time images of the brain to make procedures safer and more precise-Dr. Schulder is studying the next generation of intraoperative MRI. He runs a brain tumor clinical trials program, giving his patients ready access to innovative approaches to care. While performing complex neurosurgery is one of the most satisfying parts of Dr. Schulder's job, "empathizing with patients and their families throughout treatment is equally fulfilling," he says.In addition to treating brain tumors, Dr. Schulder performs functional neurosurgery to manage pain conditions like trigeminal neuralgia, and movement disorders including essential tremor and Parkinson's disease. He is the program director of neurosurgical residency training at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Dr. Schulder is active in organized neurosurgery, where among other offices he is past president of the World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, director-at-large of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and historian of the American Academy Neurological Surgery.