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Our Expert Physicians / Faculty
Faculty:
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Michael Steinberg, M.D., FASTRO, FACR, FACRO Dr. Steinberg is Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. His professional career spans private, corporate and academic practice and is known for the development of multi-site radiation oncology care networks that are characterized by clinical excellence and community based clinical research. The UCLA Radiation Oncology network includes the department at Ronald Reagan Medical Center at UCLA, academically oriented community practices as well as Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Steinberg has specific expertise in the treatment of tumors of the GU system, breast and head and neck. He specializes in the use of technically advanced treatment modalities such as Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) and brachytherapy for the treatment of malignancy. Dr. Steinberg publishes and is a speaker on issues related to health policy including quality of care, technology assessment, healthcare economics and disparity. He served as the PI for a National Cancer Institute Cancer Disparity Research grant and as a health services research investigator and manuscript author at the RAND Corporation. Dr. Steinberg has been influential in providing input regarding health policy and economic issues on behalf of patients and his specialty through his various leadership roles in radiation oncology. He is the founding Chair of the Health Policy Council of American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and served as a member of the board of that organization. Dr. Steinberg is the radiation oncology representative to the American Medical Association's CPT Editorial Panel, served two terms on the Medicare Evidence and Coverage Advisory Committee (MCAC) and chairs of the Health Policy Committee of the Commission on Radiation Oncology of the American College of Radiology. He also currently serves on the Carrier Advisory Committee (CAC) for his regional Medicare carrier. Dr. Steinberg graduated Occidental College Phi Beta Kappa, was elected to AOA at University of Southern California School of Medicine and did his radiation oncology residency and fellowship at UCLA. |
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Dr. Beron is a board-certified radiation oncologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. His professional career spans private and academic practice. Dr. Beron specializes in treatment of all cancer types with emphasis in the treatment of breast cancer. He is an experienced brachytherapist (implant physician) and performs prostate, GYN, and breast implants. He is trained in partial breast radiation techniques such as Mammosite. Dr. Beron is certified in Gamma Knife/stereotactic radiosurgery techniques. The UCLA Radiation Oncology network in which Dr. Beron works includes Westwood, Santa Monica, as well as part time radiation oncology services at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Beron graduated from Michigan State University, was elected AOA at Wayne State University Medical School, and completed radiation oncology residency at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI. He is a member of ASTRO and the American Brachytherapy Society (ABS). (more) |
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David Jeffrey Demanes, M.D., FACRO Dr. Demanes received his bachelor of arts degree from UC Berkeley and his medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He completed residencies in internal medicine and radiation oncology at UCLA and his medical oncology fellowship at UCSF. He is the past chairman and president of the American College of Radiation Oncology. Dr. Demanes specializes in brachytherapy, the surgical subspecialty of radiation oncology. He founded the California Endocurietherapy Center (CET) in 1981 and has performed more than 10,000 surgical radiation implants. Dr. Demanes pioneered the use of high-dose-rate brachytherapy in prostate, head and neck, breast, GI, and gynecologic cancer. His research explores the novel use of brachytherapy in the treatment of cancer.(more) |
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Dr. Mitchell Kamrava is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He spent a year as a Howard Hughes Research Scholar conducting research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). He completed his internship in internal medicine at Stanford University Hospital followed by his residency in radiation oncology at the NCI, where he served as chief resident. Dr. Kamrava joined the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Radiation Oncology Department as a brachytherapy fellow in 2010. He joined the department as an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology specializing in Brachytherapy on July 1st, 2011. He served as the founding chair of the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) Resident’s Committee. He has received multiple awards including: the Roentgen Resident Research Award, the Department of the Army Commander’s Award for Public Service, the ACRO Howard H. Wong Scholarship, the UCSD Samuel B. Hamburger Memorial Thesis Award, the UCSD Goodhead Service. (more) |
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Dr. Tania Kaprealian is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She completed her medical degree and residency training in Radiation Oncology at the University of California in San Francisco. Subsequently she practiced at the American University of Beirut Medical Center where she was an Assistant Professor and Program Director in their Department of Radiation Oncology before joining the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Radiation Oncology Department. Dr. Kaprealian specializes in all treatments of all cancer types, but has extensive experience in in both Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT), stereotactic radiosurgery techniques, stereotactic body radiotherapy techniques, and other advanced techniques in radiation therapy. She has published articles on CNS malignancies as well as prostate cancer. Her work has been presented at national meetings. Dr. Kaprealian specializes in the treatment of CNS, pediatric, breast, and prostate malignancies. She is a member of the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and American College of Radiology. (more) |
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Dr. King is an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Urology at UCLA. He received his medical degree from Boston University, and completed his residency training in radiation oncology at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Dr. King also holds a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Yale University. Dr. King specializes in the treatment of genitourinary cancer and has pioneered the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for the treatment of prostate cancer. His research explores novel treatment techniques for kidney, bladder cancer and prostate cancer. (more) |
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Dr. Kupelian is a Professor of Radiation Oncology and Vice-Chair of Clinical Operations and Clinical Research at UCLA. He completed his residency training in radiation oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and completed a fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Following his fellowship, he was the section head of genitourinary malignancies in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Cleveland Clinic for 8 years. He also served as the Clinical Research Director of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Dr. Kupelian comes to UCLA from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Orlando, FL, where he was the Chairman and Scientific Director of Research for Radiation Oncology, and a Professor at the University of Central Florida. Although he specializes in genitourinary malignancies, he is an internationally known expert in the development and evaluation of cutting edge technologies in Radiation Oncology for a variety of anatomic sites. He has pionneered high-dose hypofractionated radiation therapy for prostate cancers. He has also played a significant role in the introduction and implementation of multiple image guidance techniques in radiotherapy. He has authored more than 140 research papers, over 250 abstracts, multiple review papers and book chapters. He is Board certified in Radiation Oncology. He is a member of the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology (ASTRO), the European Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Urological Association and the American Brachytherapy society. (more) |
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Percy Lee, M.D. earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, where he graduated magna cum laude. At Harvard, he was also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research fellow. He interned at Massachusetts General Hospital and received specialty training in Radiation Oncology from Stanford University. Dr. Lee is an Assistant Professor in Radiation Oncology and Clinical Director of the Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) program. He is an expert in lung cancer, cancers of the digestive tract, central nervous system tumors, and renal cell carcinoma. His expertise includes intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), as well as SBRT and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) where highly focused radiation is concentrated on localized tumors. These approaches minimize radiation to surrounding normal tissue, thereby reducing side effects and improving tumor control. Dr. Lee is focused on developing novel functional image-guided radiation therapy approaches and discovering new molecularly targeted anti-angiogenic drugs for cancer therapy. In addition, he is investigating combining molecular targeted therapy with SBRT in a rational and innovative approach with the goal of improving treatment outcomes. (more) |
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Steve P. Lee, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Lee came to the United States from Taiwan at age 15. He attended a public school in Los Angeles, and received his B.S. degree in Physics at UCLA in 1984. During his college years, he developed an interest in the integration of physics and biology. He decided to pursue his graduate training in Biomedical Physics at UCLA and received his M.S. degree in 1986, under the guidance of Professor J. B. Smathers of the Department of Radiation Oncology. Determined to be a radiation oncologist, Dr. Lee then went on to attend medical school at the Ohio State University. (more) |
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Susan McCloskey, M.D., MSHS Susan McCloskey, MD, MSHS is an Assistant Professor of radiation oncology at UCLA. Dr. McCloskey received her undergraduate and medical degrees from Emory University in Atlanta, GA and subsequently completed radiation oncology residency training at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Dr. McCloskey also holds a master’s degree in health services research from the UCLA School of Public Health. Dr. McCloskey specializes in the treatment of breast cancer and her research focuses on quality of care, quality of life, and health technology and outcomes assessment. |
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Michael T. Selch, M.D. Dr. Selch received his B.S. degree in biological sciences from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and completed his M.D. degree at the University of California in Los Angeles. He completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and then a residency in Radiation Oncology at UCLA. After completion of residency training, he joined the UCLA faculty as an adjunct assistant professor. Clinical interests of Dr. Selch include brain tumors, soft tissue sarcomas, lung cancer, pediatric malignancies, total body irradiation and stereotactic radiosurgery. (more) |
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Antonio De Salles, M.D.,Ph.D. (Neurosurgery) Professor In Residence and Director of the Stereotactic Surgery program, and Co-Director of the Radiosurgery Program. Dr. DeSalles focuses on noninvasive techniques of surgery in the management and treatment of inoperable brain tumors using Novalis Shaped Beam Radiosurgery System (advanced technology in comparison to the X-Knife and Gamma Knife). He also does research and surgery for Parkinson's disease and various movement disorders, as well as surgery for pain. (more) |
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H. Rodney Withers, M.D.,D.Sc. (Emeritus) Dr. Hubert Rodney Withers is considered by many colleagues to be the pre-eminent clinically-oriented radiation biologist in the world. He has made numerous scientific contributions over the years, but is most widely known for his seminal work on post-radiation repair and the effects of ionizing radiation on normal tissues. Many of the assays and the techniques he has developed are now being used in laboratories throughout the world. There is scarcely any major review of radiation biology which does not cite Dr. Withers' contributions prominently, and he stands out as the radiation biologist who has applied studies on basic radiation effects to the clinical practice of radiation therapy. |
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Dr. Kenneth Wong is a board certified specialist in Radiation Oncology. Dr. Wong received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Biology from the Johns Hopkins University where he graduated with honors and Phi Beta Kappa. He is a native of Los Angeles, and returned for his medical degree at University of California, Irvine College of Medicine. His accomplishments were recognized by admission to Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honor society. He continued his residency training at UCI, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, and City of Hope National Medical Center. He also served as Chief Resident. Dr. Wong has performed research in cancer genetics to expand our understanding of cancer biology. He has specialty and expertise in Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), prostate brachytherapy, High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy, and MammoSite breast brachytherapy. Dr. Wong is also fluent in Spanish. |
Medical Physics Faculty: |
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Nzhde Agazaryan, Ph.D., DABR Dr. Agazaryan is a Professor of Radiation Oncology and the Chief of Clinical Medical Physics at the UCLA Radiation Oncology. He is also a Professor of Biomedical Physics Graduate Program. His appointment in the Department of Radiation Oncology involves research, teaching and clinical practice. His research and clinical interests include stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS/SRT), stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), small field dosimetry, image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), functional image-guided radiotherapy, gated radiotherapy, eye plaque brachytherapy. Dr. Agazaryan is a Diplomate of The American Board of Radiology (DABR) - board certified in Therapeutic Radiologic Physics. He is also California State licensed to conduct therapy machine calibration and radiation protection surveys.
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Dr. DeMarco is an Associate Clinical Professor in Radiation Oncology and educational program director. He received his PhD from the UCLA Biomedical Physics Graduate Program in 1997. Dr. DeMarco's research interests are currently focused on issues related to accurate dose calculation algorithms with respect to therapeutic and diagnostic radiology as well as image-guided radiation therapy procedures. This includes an NIH funded collaboration with the Department of Radiological Sciences investigating patient specific dosimetry from CT imaging procedures. Dr. DeMarco currently teaches radiation dosimetry and an introduction to Monte Carlo methods as part of the UCLA Biomedical Physics graduate curriculum. |
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Dr. Low is a Professor of Radiation Oncology and Vice-Chair of Physics at UCLA. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics in 1988 from Indiana University and was a postdoctoral fellow for two years in radiation therapy physics at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He moved to Washington University where he eventually became a Professor and Director of Medical Physics. Dr. Low moved to UCLA in 2010 as the Vice Chair and Director of Medical Physics. Dr. Low is board certified by the American Board of Medical Physics in Therapeutic Medical Physics and by the American Board of Radiology and is a fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. His research interests include modeling of human breathing motion, radiation therapy safety, quality assurance methods, image-guided radiation therapy including magnetic resonance-image guided radiation therapy. |
Radiobiology Research Faculty: |
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Nicholas A. Cacalano, Ph.D. Associate Professor Experimental Radiation Oncology His laboratory is interested in the molecular mechanisms of cytokine and growth factor receptor signal transduction, and understanding how deregulated signaling results in human diseases such as Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) and cancer. |
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Kei S. Iwamoto, Ph.D. Adjunct Associate Professor Experimental Radiation Oncology Iwamoto Research Interests: |
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William H. McBride, D.Sc. Dr. McBride was recruited to UCLA a Professor of Radiation Oncology in 1984. He had previously been Senior Lecturer in the Department of Bacteriology at the University of Edinburgh Medical School in Scotland (1982-84) and a Project Investigator in the Department of Radiotherapy and Experimental Radiotherapy at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute. In 1987, he received his D.Sc. from the University of Edinburgh, in 1994 he was appointed as Director of the Division of Experimental Radiation Oncology at UCLA, and in 1995 as Vice Chair for Research in Radiation Professor and Vice Chair for Research Department of Radiation Oncology. |
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Frank Pajonk, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Pajonk was recruited to UCLA in 2005. Dr. Pajonk received his M.D. at the University Freiburg and his Ph.D. at the University of Freiburg, Germany. From 1998 to 1999 he joined the Department of Radiation Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA as a PostDoc. In 2002 he received his habilitation and venia legendi from the University of Freiburg, Germany. Dr. Pajonk is interested in cancer stem cells and their response to cytokines, radiation and chemotherapy. His laboratory develops novel experimental therapies that will improve cancer cure and reduce treatment side effects. |
