Leadership

Board of Directors

The Physicians Network Board of Directors is composed of nine faculty members representative of the clinical divisions at MD Anderson. Each Director is appointed by the President of MD Anderson and serves a three year term. A Director may serve successive terms.

MD Anderson Physicians Network® Board of Directors:

•  Christopher Flowers, M.D.
  Department Chair, Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, Division of Cancer Medicine
• Richard Gorlick, M.D.
  Division Head and Professor, Pediatric Administration
• Carin Hagberg, M.D., FASA, Vice Chairman
  Chief Academic Officer
• Albert Koong, M.D.
  Division Head and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology 
• Reza Mehran, M.D.
  Professor, Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery
• William A. Murphy, Jr., M.D., Chairman
  Professor, Department of Musculoskeletal Imaging, Division of Diagnostic Imaging
• Victor G. Prieto, M.D., Ph.D.
  Chair, Pathology, Anatomical
• Welela Tereffe, M.D.
  Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation Oncology
• David Tweardy, M.D.
  Division Head and Professor, Internal Medicine

The responsibilities of the Board of Directors include:

• Establish Physicians Network mission and vision statements and review them periodically to insure they fit well with the direction of the corporation
• Approve the strategic plan, which outlines strategies to grow the business of the organization, including the necessary resources
• Determine and approve the products and services to be offered that are consistent with the mission and vision
• Approve the annual operating budget and ensuring effective management of resources
• Build and maintain a strong public image by promoting the mission, vision and programs of the organization
• Recruit, train and evaluate board members and maintain a Board composition that is balanced and appropriate
• Ensure that the Physicians Network maintains ethical and legal practices to ensure accountability

Executive Leadership

He has authored or co-authored over 200 journal articles and book chapters, the majority of which focus on breast disease. He continues to serve as Clinical Professor on the Breast Surgical Service actively treating patients.

Richard J. Babaian, M.D.
Chief Medical Director

Babaian is Professor Emeritus and Chief Medical Officer. Prior to serving in this role, Babaian was Professor of Surgery in the Department of Urology, Director of the Prostate Detection Clinic and the Blanche Bender Professor in Cancer Research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Upon completion of his degree in medicine from Georgetown University, Babaian completed his internship at the University of Wisconsin and his residency at the University of Wisconsin and the University of North Carolina. Additionally, Babaian completed a three-year fellowship in Urologic Oncology.

Babaian practiced urologic oncology exclusively for over 25 years and has authored or co-authored more than 200 scientific publications the majority of which focus on prostate cancer. During that time, he was Chair of the NCCN Prostate Cancer Detection Panel.  He has a wide range of experience in the early detection, diagnosis, staging and management of prostate cancer and is experienced in the technique of cryosurgery and has utilized this modality in the treatment of prostate cancer both as primary therapy and as salvage following radiation therapy. His research interest focused on prostate tumor markers and prediction models.

Gildy Babiera, M.D.
Medical Director

Dr. Babiera received her undergraduate degree from Duke University and her medical degree from New York Medical College. She completed a residency in General Surgery at New York University, and a clinical research fellowship in breast cancer at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Most recently, she completed an MBA from the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business.

Dr. Babiera served as Professor of Surgery in the Department of Breast Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center where her clinical practice and expertise focused on the surgical treatment of breast cancer patients and the multidisciplinary approach to breast cancer care. Dr. Babiera's clinical research efforts included evaluating loco-regional treatments of locally advanced and stage IV de novo breast cancer, population-based outcomes, and minimally invasive therapies, such as radiofrequency ablation, cryosurgery and accelerated partial breast radiation therapy. She has been an investigator and collaborator on multiple clinical trials, has published extensively on surgical treatment of breast cancer patients, has mentored and educated numerous medical students, residents and fellows and has served on many organizational and editorial boards.

As faculty, she worked with MD Anderson Cancer Center Physician's Network for many years and is now very excited to be working in the capacity of Medical Director for Physician's Network.

Miloslav Beran, M.D., Ph.D
Medical Director

Beran graduated from Karolinska Institute Medical School in Stockholm, Sweden with both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. He completed his internship and residency training at Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm and MD Anderson Cancer Center fellowship program in Developmental Therapeutics from 1978-1980. After a short time as Assistant Professor of Medicine in charge of bone marrow transplantation for the Department of Hematology, Karolinska Hospital, Beran joined the staff of MD Anderson Cancer Center as Associate Professor and subsequently Professor of Medicine in the Department of Hematology/Leukemia, where he actively pursued both laboratory and clinical research until his retirement in 2008. Throughout his entire career, his commitments included preclinical laboratory research focused on the significance of leukemia biology for patient outcome, mechanisms of resistance to antileukemic agents and testing of new antileukemic drugs.

Beran combined these endeavors with direct patient care, development of new treatment strategies for treatment of leukemias and myelodysplastic syndromes and design and coordination of clinical trials. He published and lectured extensively and for his work received national and international recognition.
He continues collaboration with the staff of the Leukemia department.

Gregory Chronowski, M.D.
Special Assistant

Dr. Chronowski is a Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and specializes in the treatment of cancers of the head and neck with radiotherapy. He completed his pre-medical training at Columbia University in New York, received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, and completed his residency in Radiation Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston in 2003. After completing residency, he spent 3 years in private practice in Naperville, IL. He joined the faculty of MD Anderson in 2006 practicing Head & Neck Radiotherapy in the Texas Medical Center. He was subsequently the founding physician of the MD Anderson Radiotherapy Center in Katy, TX, a facility that ultimately evolved into the multidisciplinary outpatient facility now known as the MD Anderson West Campus.

Dr. Chronowski has authored and co-authored a number of peer reviewed manuscripts on clinical subject in Radiation Oncology. He is currently actively involved in the MD Anderson Network as a Head & Neck Radiotherapy Peer Review Consultant and also serves as the Clinical Lead for MD Anderson at Cooper in New Jersey. He also serves as the Special Assistant for Radiation Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center Physician's Network and the Houston Area Locations Deputy Section Chief for Albuquerque, NM.

Anuja Jhingran earned her M.D. at Texas Tech University in 1988, followed by residency training at Baylor College of Medicine in Internal Medicine and Radiation Oncology. She began her career as an Assistant Professor at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 1996 and has advanced to a Professor of Radiation Oncology in the Section of Gynecology.

She is a physician specializing in the treatment of gynecologic cancers. Clinically, she is interested in the management of advanced ovarian, cervical, and endometrial cancers and the use of advanced radiation techniques to minimize toxicity. In addition, Jhingran is heavily involved with the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) in the development of patient care studies to treat gynecologic cancers and is the national Principal Investigator of several accruing studies including a phase III study in cervical cancer.

Jhingran travels extensively internationally for cancer education. She is passionate about women’s health issues and especially as it relates to developing country’s efforts to establish improved health care for the general populace, not just the financially able.

Kies’ professional life has been devoted to patient care. Graduating with an MD degree from the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in 1973, he trained in Internal Medicine at the Walter Reed General Hospital, in the Army Medical Corp, then as a fellow in medical oncology at the Brooke Army Medical Center of San Antonio. In the Army Medical Corp, Kies served as an attending physician, seeing a broad spectrum of patients with hematologic and oncologic illnesses.

Kies accepted an assistant professor position at Northwestern University of Chicago in 1980. Over passing years, he worked with George Sisson and Bharat Mittal of Northwestern, and Everette Vokes of the University of Chicago, cultivating interest and experience in caring for patients with head and neck cancers. Primary research efforts were in the study of medical therapy as a component of combined regimens for patients with locally advanced disease.

He was named the Abby and John Friend Professor of Clinical Oncology in 1994. In 2000, he joined Waun Ki Hong and colleagues at the MD Anderson Center, to partner also with Surgery Chairs Helmuth Goepfert and Randal Weber, and Kian Ang of Radiation Oncology.

In the Physicians Network, he continues as a collaborating medical oncologist in our large and leading Head and Neck Center, focusing on the care and treatment of patients with malignancies of the head and neck. Kies also works with MD Anderson affiliated centers providing guidance for the conduct of medical oncology care and clinical research.

Kuban is Professor of Radiation Oncology, Genitourinary Section Chief, Medical Director of the Multidisciplinary Prostate Cancer Clinic, and Director of Radiation Oncology Global Development at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. A graduate of the Medical College of Georgia, Kuban completed an internship in Surgery and a residency in Radiation Oncology at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia.

Kuban’s research interests include radiation for prostate cancer, quality of life after treatment, novel agents combined with radiation and the multidisciplinary approach. Kuban has authored over 300 articles, editorials, and abstracts, as well as several book chapters. She serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics and Brachytherapy and is a reviewer for a variety of journals, including Cancer, Urology, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. She is a member of the Prostate Cancer Task Force of the NCI and a fellow of the American College of Radiology and the American Society of Radiation Oncology.

Lichtiger served as Chief of Transfusion Medicine since 1973 until he relinquished that position in 2018 and currently continues working in Transfusion Medicine on a part time basis. He was appointed to a variety of administrative positions which included the chairmanship of the Department of Laboratory Medicine, in the Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and additionally served on numerous institutional committees.

As a member of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), he performed numerous clinical laboratory and blood bank inspections, as Assessor/Inspector on behalf of those two organizations.

Prior to joining the MD Anderson Physicians Network® in 2010, McLaughlin had been Professor of Medicine in the Lymphoma and Myeloma department at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC); he has a Professor Emeritus appointment at MDACC.  McLaughlin received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College, and his M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine.

One major focus of McLaughlin's research was on the integration of new therapies, particularly biological therapies, for the management of patients with indolent lymphoma. He has authored and co-authored over 200 journal articles and book chapters.  He was the lead investigator of the multicenter pivotal trial of rituximab, which led to its approval by the FDA in 1997.  His collaborative activities ranged from inter-departmental projects at MDACC to international ones such as the development of the Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI). 

In addition to his patient care and clinical research roles, McLaughlin also participated in departmental and institutional initiatives related to medical records (including MDACC's initial development of its home-grown electronic medical record), database development and maintenance for his department, and quality improvement.

Papadopoulos retired as professor of medicine from the department of Melanoma Medical Oncology in 2014. He was specially challenged in taking care of patients with CNS disease and particularly those with leptomeningeal disease. A significant part of his 37 years practice at MD Anderson Cancer Center was also involved in the care of patients with the diagnosis of sarcoma. Papadopoulos has seen the evolution of systemic treatment from one chemotherapeutic agent to multiple drugs in combination with immunotherapy, and more recently the development of targeted therapy and immune check point agents a long lasting expectation.

Papadopoulos is an advocate of the multidisciplinary approach in treating oncological patients where questions are addressed prior to initiating treatment. He has participated in multiple institutional committees through which many initiatives were examined. His experience in clinical oncology and functional organization is a tool in his current role in quality improvement process and concordance studies.

Miguel Rodriguez-Bigas, M.D.
Special Assistant

Rodriguez-Bigas graduated from the University of Puerto Rico Medical School in 1982. Following a General Surgery Residency at the University Medical Center and the University of Puerto Rico affiliated hospitals, he went to Roswell Park Cancer Institute where he finished a Surgical Oncology Fellowship (1987-88, 1989-90) and a Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery Fellowship (1988-89). Rodriguez-Bigas spent 11 years in the staff at Roswell Park Cancer Institute's Department of Surgical Oncology in the Colorectal Division prior to coming to the Department of Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2001.

Rodriguez-Bigas has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He has served on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Diseases of the Colon & Rectum, and Annals of Surgical Oncology. Currently he is on the Editorial Board of Familial Cancer, and he is a member of the National Cancer Institute Physicians Desk Query (PDQ) Cancer Genetics Editorial Board. In addition, he has been an invited speaker in both national and international symposia dealing with colorectal cancer and inherited colorectal cancer.

During his tenure at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Mr. Simeone has held several key leadership positions with significant operations, personnel and budgetary responsibilities. In addition, he has led and participated in several key institutional strategic initiatives aimed toward growth, operational efficiency and quality improvement.

Theriault retired as Professor of Medicine, Department of Breast Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. In addition he had a joint appointment as Professor, Section for Integrated Ethics in Cancer Care and Clinical Ethics Service, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.

Theriault received his medical degree from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri. His postgraduate training included a Rotating Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine at Normandy Osteopathic Hospital in St. Louis. He completed a Residency in Internal Medicine at Oklahoma Osteopathic Hospital in Tulsa and Fellowship in Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Theriault is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. He received his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Houston. He was a Visiting Scholar for Clinical Ethics at Georgetown University.

Theriault has authored or co-authored over 220 original articles in peer-reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Cancer. He has 56 invited articles and 50 book chapters.  He has served as a reviewer for journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association and British Journal of Cancer. Theriault served as Chairman of the Institutional Review Board-2 at MD Anderson Cancer Center for more than ten years. He has served as a panel member for the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research program and as a scientific reviewer for the NCI/National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. He was an original member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Breast Cancer Guideline panel and Chaired the 2013 panel. He has served as the principle investigator for the NCCN Breast Cancer Outcomes Database and served on the Disease Site Executive Committee. His research interests include breast cancer and bone health, breast cancer during pregnancy and quality health outcomes.

His international experience includes serving as Executive Director/Mentor/Faculty Member for the Japan Team Oncology Program and the Japanese Medical Education Program at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

He currently serves as Medical Director for MD Anderson Physicians Network® .

Robert A. Wolff, M.D., has been the Deputy Division Head of Clinical and Educational Affairs in the Division of Cancer Medicine since October 2006 and the Program Director for the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program since 1999. He began his career at MD Anderson Cancer Center in July 1997 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology and rose to the rank of full Professor in 2008. In January 2013 was appointed as the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Distinguished University Chair of Medical Oncology. He also serves as Chair, Committee for Professional Education and Training, Sheikh Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy (IPCT) and Co-Chair-Elect, American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Education Council in 2018.

Wolff graduated from Albany Medical College in Albany, New York and completed his residency and fellowship training in Hematology/Oncology at Duke University Medical Center. He joined the faculty of MD Anderson Cancer Center in 1997, where his research has focused on the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

He has been a collaborator with surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and laboratory researchers in trying to understand the causes of pancreatic cancer and to design better treatment strategies for resectable, locally advanced, and metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Program executive of the MD Anderson Cancer Network™ national affiliation strategy. Working with teams of world-renowned faculty, and clinical quality and operations experts, the goal is to create mission fulfilling affiliations with hospitals and physicians groups across the country. Wong leads creation and development of new services and products to sustain growth and enhance program value. Success is achieved through open and informative development of professional relationships, advancing operations capabilities, and recognizing unique clinical and business needs of each affiliate and market. Areas of focus include; strategic planning and implementation, business development, clinical operations, program development, marketing and communications, and market analytics.

Prior to joining Physicians Network, Wong held leadership positions in top tier health care organizations including, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas Health Science Center, City of Hope National Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine. In these roles, she led strategic initiatives that included; sustainable growth models; operations and financial turnaround initiatives; physician recruitment, retention and compensation; mergers and acquisitions; and operations excellence. Prior to joining Physicians Network, Wong was Senior Vice President and Managing Director of the national office of FKP Architects with focus on health care systems space and performance improvement consulting.