Dr. Posner performs surgical procedures for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers, including:
· * Surgery for pancreatic cancer
· * Whipple procedure
· * Laparoscopic pancreatic surgery
· * Liver surgery for cancer
· * Major hepatic resections
· * Surgery for stomach cancer
· * Surgery for gallbladder and bile duct cancer
· * Surgery for esophageal cancer
· * Surgery for melanoma and sarcoma
Dr. Posner's work goes beyond the operating room. In the lab, he focuses on the molecular basis of malignancies, which has enabled him to design and guide groundbreaking clinical trials for cancers of the pancreas, esophagus, colon, stomach, rectum and liver. With more than 30 years of experience, he has won dozens of awards and published 250 articles, abstracts and book chapters.
He has won the University of Chicago's Robert J. Baker Award for Excellence in Teaching, as well as the Basic Science and Clinical Research Award from the Society of Surgical Oncology.
Dr. Posner has held several leadership positions during his distinguished career. He is past-president of the Society of Surgical Oncology. He is deputy editor of the Annals of Surgical Oncology and section editor for the gastrointestinal cancer section of the journal Cancer. He served as chairman of the Gastrointestinal Committee of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG)
An active researcher, Dr. Smith is involved in the development of promising agents for patients with non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin lymphoma. She is principal investigator on a number of innovative clinical trials. Many of the trials incorporate the collection of tumor and blood samples to study the effects of treatment on cancer cells through collaborative laboratories.
An active researcher, Dr. Cunningham is studying the biology and therapy of hemoglobinopathies, hematopoiesis and the leukemia stem cell, transcriptional mechanisms operative during the development of vertebrate organisms, and the development of clinical trials for the treatment of leukemia and genetic diseases. Over his distinguished career, Dr. Cunningham's research has received support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the American Society of Hematology, and other prominent scientific organizations. He is a member of the scientific council of the American Cancer Society, and a member of the editorial board of The Oncologist.
Dr. Cunningham is an accomplished author and has published more than 100 scientific articles, as well as several book chapters and invited reviews. He has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and is a reviewer for Blood, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Cancer Research, and Genomics. A popular speaker, Dr. Cunningham has lectured at universities and scientific meetings around the world. Dr. Cunningham has also been selected as a top doctor by Chicago magazine and is an American Top Doctor.
Dr. Bishop's research focuses on the prevention and treatment of relapse after stem cell transplantation. Relapse is the primary cause of treatment failure and death after stem cell transplantation. He has served as the primary investigator on studies designed to prevent and treat disease recurrence after transplantation. Specifically, he works on ways to enhance immune effects of the transplanted cells against cancer.
An active contributor to medical literature, Dr. Bishop has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles, in addition to more than 30 book chapters and two books on cancer treatment and research. He also serves on the editorial board of numerous scientific journals, including Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation.
Dr. Bishop is a dedicated mentor, teaching residents and fellows in classroom, clinical and research settings. Many of his past trainees hold leadership roles in medical oncology and immunology at academic medical centers or at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
Since 2001, Dr. Bishop has consistently been named one of the "Best Doctors in America" by Best Doctors, Inc. He previously served as a senior investigator and as the clinical head of stem cell transplantation for the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. She is an executive board member at the Global Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes (GPED) and the International Consortium of the European Society of Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE)
In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Yamini conducts medical research. His National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research focuses on examination of the mechanisms by which brain tumors resist treatment and the development of novel approaches to improve their management, including the use of biodegradeable nanoparticle vectors.
His current investigations explore cellular DNA damage response and the treatment of malignant brain tumors in children and adults. Additionally, Dr. Yamini has interests in intracranial and skull-base endoscopy research. As an active scholar, he has published articles and book chapters on current research topics, including brain/spinal tumors and craniosynostosis — a congenital defect, which causes abnormalities in skull and brain development. Dr. Yamini's research has also received research funding from the American Cancer Society and the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Donington specializes in lung cancer and treats people at all stages, providing a personalized approach to diagnosis and treatment using the latest technology and innovations, including minimally invasive and robotic surgery.
In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Donington is an avid researcher and respected leader in her field. Her research focus is in the discovery of novel biomarkers for early detection and treatment of lung cancer and clinical trials that incorporate surgery into multimodality care plans for locally advanced and metastatic lung cancer. Dr. Donington is a past president of Women in Thoracic Surgery and the New York Society for Thoracic Surgery and serves on the editorial boards for the Annals of Thoracic Surgery and the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.
As a member of the Community Care Program, Dr. McNeer sees patients in the southwest suburbs and in northwest Indiana, making care accessible to patients and families in these locations and building strong relationships with their primary care physicians.
In addition to caring for patients, Dr. McNeer is a clinical researcher, focusing on improving treatment strategies for high-risk leukemia patients. She holds a master's degree in clinical investigation.
Dr. Cohn is actively researching several aspects of neuroblastoma. She leads clinical trials for children with newly diagnosed neuroblastoma and is also one of the few pediatric oncologists in the United States who is conducting Phase I clinical trials of promising treatments for patients with relapsed disease. Her team has established the only 131I-meta-iodobenzlyguanidine (MIBG) treatment program in Illinois. She also is conducting research in the laboratory focused on developing more effective treatments for children with this aggressive cancer.
Dr. Cohn’s research has received generous support from the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, and Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.
Dr. Cohn has held several leadership positions in national pediatric cooperative clinical research groups, including serving as the first chair of the Children's Oncology Group (COG) Neuroblastoma Disease Committee. She is the co-Chair of the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group (INRG) Task Force, and a past member of the Board of Directors for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and was ASCO Treasurer from 2012-2015. She currently serves on ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation Board of Directors and the St. Baldrick’s Foundation Board of Directors. In 2016, she received the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Pediatric Oncology Award, and in 2019, she received the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research.
A prolific author, Dr. Cohn has published more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, several book chapters, and has co-edited two books. She also serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Pediatric Blood and Cancer.
Dr. Cohn has been selected as a top doctor by Chicago magazine and Top Cancer Doctor by Newsweek and Castle Connolly.
Dr. Thompson is a Professor of Neurosurgery, Pediatrics, and Cancer Biology and the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the University of Chicago. His lab studies the mechanisms of and novel therapies for medulloblastoma leptomeningeal dissemination and immunotherapies to treat malignant pediatric brain tumors. He is also the PI of multiple clinical trials of immunotherapies to treat pediatric brain tumors. He enjoys spending his free time with his wife and two sons.
Tareq Kass-Hout, MD, is a skilled stroke neurologist who also specializes in neuro-critical care, treating critically ill neurovascular patients. Dr. Kass-Hout’s expertise also includes neuroimaging and neuroendovascular surgery, treating blood vessels pathology in the brain and spinal cord through minimally invasive surgery using catheters. He is a national expert in ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, cerebral aneurysms and other complex neurological conditions, such as arteriovenous malformations (AVM), arteriovenous fistula, carotid artery disease (CAD), pre-surgical tumor and embolization.
Because Dr. Kass-Hout is passionate about improving care for neurovascular patients, he researches new treatments and techniques designed to improve quality of life after brain injuries. His research has been published in several highly regarded, peer-reviewed journals, including the Stroke Journal, Journal of Neurointerventional Surgery, The Neurohospitalist, World Neurosurgery, Interventional Neuroradiology and more.
Dr. Zainul is a highly skilled and experienced in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology. He received his Degree in Medicine at Calicut University in Kerala, India, subsequently he took his Post – Graduate Degree in Pediatrics from the University of Mumbai. In 2001, Dr. Zainul moved to the United Kingdom where he specialize and undertake further training and experience in pediatric hematology, pediatric oncology, and pediatric bone marrow transplantation in various hospitals in UK. Dr. Zainul gained his Master’s degree in Pediatric Oncology at Birmingham University as well as Certificate in Medical Education at Manchester University. Subsequently, he completed his international Fellowship in Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation at Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle. He worked previously as Consultant Pediatric at University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire and Royal Oldham Hospital before moving to UAE.
In the UAE, He had worked at Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Tawam Hospital as Consultant, Al Ain, before he joined at Burjeel Medical City. Aside from his commitment to further advance his experience and knowledge in the field of pediatrics, pediatric hematology, oncology, and bone marrow transplantation in the United Kingdom he also published numerous articles and actively support by sharing his knowledge to the community by participating international conference across countries.
Dr. Mansi Sachdev is a highly skilled and experienced Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist and a Bone Marrow Transplant Physician. She completed her MBBS degree from Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Karnataka, India and then moved to USA in 2008 for further specialization. She did her Pediatric Residency and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Stem Cell Transplant Fellowship from Penn State Milton S. Hershey Children’s Hospital in Pennsylvania, USA. She did one more year of dedicated Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy Fellowship in one of the best institutes in the world, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. After this, Dr. Sachdev returned to India and joined Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, India, where she worked as a Consultant and later promoted to Senior Consultant in her specialty. A subject matter expert in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant, Dr. Sachdev has published several extensively researched papers and has been active member of various Indian and American Medical Associations. She brings with her a vast experience of 14 years in this field and she along with her team have performed 400+ transplants including some of the exceedingly rare transplants including haploidentical transplants. Thus, with the arrival of Dr. Mansi Sachdev at Burjeel Holdings, the healthcare group’s resources in talent and knowhow have been enhanced to a greater level, especially in the specialty of pediatric hematology/oncology/BMT.
