Penn Medicine Physician Interviews

Hematologist-oncologist Padma Munshi, MD, and dermatologist Emily Baumrin, MD, discuss the dermatologic effects and treatments for acute and chronic graft versus host disease following allogenic stem cell and bone marrow transplantation.

Gynecologist oncologist Nawar Latif, MD, MPH, MSCE, offers a brief introduction to the 3rd Gynecologic Oncology Advanced Surgical Course at Penn Medicine for fellows in-training and practicing gynecologic oncologists. Dr. Latif discusses the benefits of cadaver dissection and individualized post-course preceptorship as precedents to the mastery of advanced radical pelvic and high yield gynecologic oncology procedures.

Head and neck reconstructive surgeon Karthik Rajasekaran, MD, and radiation oncologist Michelle Gentile, MD, review recent clinical investigations of intensity-modulated radiation therapy and proton therapy for deintensification of HPV+ head and neck cancers, and discuss the advantages of head and neck cancer therapy at Penn Medicine. (Part 2 of 2)

Leukemia specialist Matthew Connor addresses parsing the genomic determinants of the leukemias for diagnosis, and reviews the mystery of mixed phenotype acute leukemia, a rare type of acute leukemia that expresses phenotypic markers of both AML and ALL. 

Learn more about Matthew Connor, MD 

Head and neck reconstructive surgeon Karthik Rajasekaran, MD, and radiation oncologist Michelle Gentile, MD, discuss the nuances and benefits of deintensification, a personalized approach to care for individuals with HPV-positive head and neck cancers that aims to maintain high cure rates while reducing long-term toxicities. (Part 1 of 2)

Dr. John Plastaras offers the insight of a clinician researcher to an engaging discussion of the emergence and application of low-dose radiation therapy as a non-invasive, non-pharmacologic alternative for chronic and refractory osteoarthritis in individuals seeking relief from chronic joint pain when other treatments fail. 

Learn more about Logan Barnes, PA-C 

Learn more about John Plastaras, MD, PhD

Neurosurgeon Christina Jackson, MD, and radiation-oncologist Emily Lebow, MD, discuss the treatment of meningiomas, tumors of the meninges renowned for their tendency to recur following resection, and
review the tools used to image (DOTATATE-PET), target (Lutathera), and destroy (GammaTile) residual meningioma cells to prevent recurrence of the disease.

Neurosurgeon Christina Jackson, MD, and radiation-oncologist Emily Lebow, MD, offer their unique perspectives on recent advances in the surgical and radiotherapeutic management of meningioma, complicated, often recurrent tumors that rise in the meninges of the brain and spinal cord. 

Learn more about Emily Lebow, MD 

Clinician-researcher Ravi K. Amaravadi, MD, recalls a time within recent memory when no therapies existed for Stage IV metastatic melanoma, and reflects upon the 17 FDA-approved therapies now available to treat the disease. In this podcast, Dr. Amaravadi notes that many of these agents— including molecularly targeted therapy, immunotherapy in solid tumors, TIL cellular therapy, and personalized mRNA cancer vaccines—were pioneered at Penn Medicine. 

Learn more about Ravi K. Amaravadi, MD 

Penn radiation oncologist Alexander Lin, MD, reviews the groundbreaking clinical study that established the equivalency of proton therapy to photon radiation (IMRT) as an adjunct for patients with HPV+ oropharyngeal cancer—finding in so doing that proton therapy can be used for deintensification of radiation treatment in this population. The study determined that proton therapy matched photon therapy in controlling cancer, and did so with fewer long-term side effects and better long-term outcomes, including survival.

Learn more about Alexander Lin, MD