Top

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:

William A. Murphy Jr., M.D., Board Chairman
Professor, Diagnostic Radiology
Eduardo Bruera, M.D.
Chair and Professor, Palliative Care Medicine
Robert L. Coleman, M.D.
Professor, Gynecologic Oncology & Reproductive Medicine
Stephen M. Hahn, M.D.
Division of Deputy President
Charles F. Levenback, M.D.
Professor, Gynecologic Oncology & Reproductive Medicine
Reza Mehran, M.D.
Professor, Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery
Victor G. Prieto, M.D., Ph.D.
Chair, Pathology, Anatomical
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

Thomas A. Aloia, M.D.

Special Assistant

Thomas Aloia, M.D., is a Hepatobiliary Surgical Oncologist in the Gastrointestinal Center at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Aloia received his medical degree from the University of California – Los Angeles Geffen School of Medicine. His postgraduate training included a general and thoracic surgery residency at Duke University Medical Center and fellowships in Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson and Hepatobiliary Surgery/Liver Transplantation at the Paul Brousse Hospital in Paris, France.

Aloia’s clinical expertise is in hepatobiliary surgery, gastrointestinal surgical oncology, minimally invasive surgery and liver transplantation surgery. He is an ad hoc reviewer for multiple medical and surgical journals and serves on the editorial board of The Journal of Oncology Practice, Surgery, Annals of Surgery and the Annals of Surgical Oncology.

He has focused his administrative efforts in the areas of patient safety, quality, and functional outcomes including his role as the ACS NSQIP Surgeon Champion and the Division of Surgery Director of Quality and Outcomes. He is the Associate Medical Director of the MD Anderson Gastrointestinal Disease Center, Executive Director of Network Quality and the Head of the Institute for Cancer Care Innovation.

Frederick C. Ames, M.D.

Medical Director

Ames is Clinical Professor in the Department of Surgery. He previously was the Robert F. Fly Professor and Deputy Chairman of the Department of General Surgical Oncology retiring from full time service in 2007 after 30 years service. For the past 20 years his practice has been focused on breast disease and he previously served as Head of the Breast Surgical Section.

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.

Michael W. Brown, M.H.A.
President and Chief Executive Officer

Michael W. Brown, MHA, was named the President and CEO of MD Anderson Services Corporation and MD Anderson Physicians Network in April, 2017. MD Anderson Services Corporation facilitates business development relationships on behalf of the institution. It helps manage MD Anderson Cancer Network by providing legal, financial and consulting services to support our business development activities. MD Anderson Physician’s Network is home to the certified member program, which is our network’s best practices and quality improvement offering.

Michael is an experienced health care executive who has held progressive leadership roles at MD Anderson. Most recently, he was the associate vice president for Business Development. In this role, he has worked to build relationships and programs both domestically and internationally for the past two years. He led development activities for our partnerships with MD Anderson at Cooper, Baptist MD Anderson, Scripps MD Anderson and UT Health Northeast MD Anderson. He served as the vice president for business and network development at University of Chicago Medicine. He holds a Master of Health Administration from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Arts from Oakland University in Rochester, MI.

Peter Dempsey, M.D., F.A.C.R

Medical Director

Before joining MD Anderson Physicians Network®, Dempsey served as Professor, Diagnostic Radiology, Division of Diagnostic Imaging at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He also served as Section Head of Breast Imaging within the Breast Cancer Center. Prior to coming to MD Anderson, Dempsey was at the University of Alabama Medical Center where he was Chief of Outpatient Radiology and Section Chief of Breast Imaging. Dempsey has published 70 peer reviewed journal articles and 5 book chapters.

Anuja Jhingran, M.D.

Special Assistant

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.

Merrill Kies, M.D.

Medical Director

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.

Deborah Kuban, M.D., F.A.C.R., F.A.S.T.R.O

Special Assistant

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.

Benjamin Lichtiger, M.D., Ph.D., MBA, FASCP, CMQ/OE (ASQ), CMQ (ABMQ)

Medical Director

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.

He has dedicated his life to supporting the needs of blood components to the patient population at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (UTMDACC). Through his expertise in Pathology and Transfusion Medicine, Lichtiger works closely with the primary care teams of clinicians, surgeons, anesthetists, and nurses, who are responsible for the treatment and management of the cancer patients.

Lichtiger has stated that Transfusion Medicine should be regarded as the fourth element of cancer treatment, alongside surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation oncology, because blood and platelets are vital to making these therapies effective for patients and these patients require very specifically tailored blood component support.

Kevin W. McEnery, M.D.

Special Assistant

Kevin W. McEnery, M.D. is the Director of Innovation in Imaging Informatics and a Professor of Radiology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He graduated from the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, MA an attended Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC., completed a radiology residency at Brown University and musculoskeletal radiology fellowship at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis. In 1996, he was named Section Chief for Musculoskeletal Radiology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

As Director of Innovation in Imaging Informatics, McEnery collaborates with industry partners as well as internal stakeholders to optimize and improve informatics support of the Diagnostic Imaging enterprise. In the MD Anderson transition to Epic, he serves in the role of Physician Builder to collaborate in the system build and optimization activities to occur after system deployment. Within the Division of Diagnostic imaging he serves as co-chairperson of the Diagnostic Imaging Informatics Functional Committee as well as Clinical Operations and Clinical Quality Committees. He is chairperson of the Clinical Effectiveness & Evidence Based Imaging Committee which oversee the MDACC application for Center for Medicare Services designation as a Qualified Provider Lead Entity for clinical decision support certification. He serves on MDACC institutional committees including Informatics Governance Committee, Data Services Steering Team and Clinical Effectiveness Subcommittee.

Peter McLaughlin, M.D.

Medical Director

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.

Nicholas Papadopoulos, M.D.

Medical Director

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.

William J. Simeone Jr., M.H.A.

Vice President, Operations and Chief Quality Officer

Mr. Simeone has over thirty years’ experience as a healthcare leader at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Number 1 ranked cancer center in the United States, as reported by the U. S. News and World Report, eleven out of the last thirteen years.

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.

In his current position, Mr. Simeone serves as the Vice President, Operations and Chief Quality Officer and Corporate Officer for MD Anderson Physicians Network, a supporting and separate corporation of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The MD Anderson Physicians Network® is a quality management and best practices organization that delivers cancer management services to its Network member organizations through the MD Anderson Cancer Network. Our goal is to improve cancer care in the general community by providing world-class, MD Anderson-branded oncology services to local hospitals in the United States. In this position, Mr. Simeone has responsibility for all clinical operations and quality measurement and reporting activities for the company. This includes: account management, case management, credentialing, information services, network services, provider relations, program development and quality measurement and reporting. Executive oversight of these services includes all processes that support MD Anderson Cancer Network members. Currently, there are eighteen Certified Member organizations in the network, which include thirty-five qualified hospitals and over four hundred and fifty participating providers. To execute these duties, Mr. Simeone has extensive interaction with MD Anderson Cancer Center executive leaders and faculty, MD Anderson Physicians Network board members and executive, physician leaders and participating physicians from community network members.

Mr. Simeone is a graduate (Cum Laude) of the Providence College Health Services Administration Program and Saint Louis University Master’s Program in Healthcare Administration - Honors Distinction. He is Member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Providence College Health Policy Management Advisory Council.

Richard Theriault, D.O.

Medical Director

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 Wolff, M.D.

Special Assistant

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.

Melanie Wong

Vice President, Business Development and Chief Strategy Officer

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.