Talha Shaikh, MD

Dr. Christine Kim Garcia is the Frode-Jensen Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Her laboratory studies the genetic basis of lung disease, including pulmonary fibrosis. She is the Chief of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine Division within the Department of Medicine, a member of the Center for Precision Medicine and Genomics and an affiliate of the Institute for Genomic Medicine.

Dr. S. Sunghyun Yoon is the Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology and Vice-Chair of Surgical Oncology Research and Education in the Department of Surgery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). Dr. Yoon is a national and international expert in the treatment of patients with sarcomas and other soft tissue tumors, gastric (stomach) and gastroesophageal cancers, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), and melanoma. He also has over 18 years of experience in the treatment of other gastrointestinal and abdominal tumors, hepatobiliary tumors, neuroendocrine/adrenal tumors, lymphomas, and spleen tumors. He has been the principal investigator of several clinical trials examining novel treatment strategies and given numerous invited national and international lectures in relation to these cancers. Several of these trials have investigated the treatment of sarcomas, especially abdominal/retroperitoneal sarcomas, with advanced radiation techniques such as proton beam radiation and aggressive surgical resection to minimize local recurrence. Read More About These Treatments: https://columbiasurgery.org/conditions-and-treatments/retroperitoneal-sarcomas-and-pelvic-sarcomas Dr. Yoon was an early advocate for minimally invasive robotic surgery and has performed over 300 robotic procedures including robotic gastrectomies (stomach removal). He has one of the world’s largest experiences in performing prophylactic total gastrectomies for patients with hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC syndrome) secondary to germline CDH1 mutation. He pioneered a technique for connection of the small bowel to the esophagus after total gastrectomy that is used by former surgical trainees and colleagues throughout the country due to its extremely low leakage rate. Dr. Yoon graduated from Harvard University and received his M.D. from the University of California at San Diego. He completed his residency in general surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and his fellowship in surgical oncology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He was an Associate Professor of Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School before joining the staff at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in 2012. Dr. Yoon was an Attending Surgeon in the Division of Gastric and Mixed Tumors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College before joining CUIMC in 2021. Dr. Yoon’s main research interests are in cancer stem cells and targeted biological agents in combination with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. His laboratory has been funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute for 18 years and strives to translate new research discoveries into the clinic. Dr. Yoon is also part of multi-institution research groups funded by Stand Up To Cancer and the DeGregorio Family Foundation to discover early diagnostics and new therapies for gastric cancer. His clinical and research efforts have led to over 150 original research articles, book chapters, and reviews. For a complete list of publications, please visit NCBI.

Dr. Roshni Rao, a renowned expert in breast care, is the chief of the Breast Surgery Program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. A skilled surgeon who is passionate in her commitment to breast health and her patients, Dr. Rao has expertise in the treatment of breast cancer that has spread to the areas surrounding the breast, known as locally advanced breast cancer; in addition to breast cancer that has spread further to other parts of the body, metastatic breast cancer. Her groundbreaking research includes the positive effects of exercise for patients with breast cancer who are preparing for surgery, and the impact of ethnicity on the risk of developing triple-negative breast cancer (when the three receptors known to fuel most breast cancers; estrogen, progesterone, and the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; are not present in the cancer tumor). Dr. Rao oversees the breast cancer surgery program at the Comprehensive Breast Center of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, a multi-site, multi-disciplinary entity that incorporates the legacy of innovation and trust associated with the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She collaborates closely with its team of specialists across every discipline, including radiologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, plastic surgeons and other breast cancer support staff. Dr. Rao was repeatedly recognized with awards for her leadership at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, where she served as the director of the George N. Peters Center for Breast Surgery prior to joining NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia. She was elected by her peers to be a "Best Doctor" in breast surgery every year from 2009 to 2017. Dr. Rao received her medical degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine. She completed a general surgery residency at Baystate Medical Center/Tufts University School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship in breast surgical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the Society of Surgical Oncology. She is currently the chair of the Patient Safety and Quality Committee for the American Society of Breast Surgeons. Dr. Rao serves as a reviewer for the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Annals of Surgical Oncology, and has served as a reviewer for Cancer and other journals. Her work has been published in these journals and many other surgical and oncology publications.