Special Services
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An Equal Opportunity University.
Speakers
Josiah Allen, Derek Allison, Therese Bocklage, Jordan Brady, Daniel Flora, Joseph Kim, Jill Kolesar, Donita Lightner, Zin Myint, Reema Patel, John Villano
Josiah Allen, PharmD
Precision Medicine Pharmacist
PGY2 Clinical Pharmacogenomics Pharmacy Residency Program Director
St. Elizabeth Healthcare
Edgewood, Kentucky
Josiah Allen PharmD has worked in the field of pharmacogenomics for nearly 15 years including time spent at the Mayo Clinic Assurex Health OneOme and MHealth Fairview. His research and clinical interests are in the implementation and application of pharmacogenomics in behavioral health and primary care settings. He earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from Wheaton College IL and his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Minnesota.
Derek Allison, MD
Associate Professor
Vice Chair of Research
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Dr. Allison is an Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. He received his MD from Georgetown University School of Medicine where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Next, he completed residency training in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, served as Chief Resident, and completed subspecialty fellowship training, all at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In addition to his clinical work, he is interested in clinical and translational cancer research, especially related to precision medicine. To date, he has published more than 65 peer‐reviewed manuscripts, authored several book chapters, and published two books. He currently serves as the Assistant Director and the Quality Officer of the Biospecimen Procurement & Translational Pathology Shared Resource Facility (BPTP SRF) at the Markey Cancer Center, which recently became a College of American Pathologists accredited Biorepository.
Therese Bocklage, MD
Vice-Chair, Education
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Director
Markey Cancer Center's Biospecimen Procurement and Translational Pathology Shared Resource Facility
College of Medicine
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Dr. Bocklage practices academic surgical pathology and cytopathology at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine Health Sciences Center. After graduating medical school at the University of Toledo, she completed a pathology residency at the University of Vermont and followed that with a fellowship in surgical pathology at the University of New Mexico and a cytopathology fellowship at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. Over three decades, she has personally microscopically examined ~150,000 cases. Dr. Bocklage has co-authored three texts in diagnostic and molecular pathology primarily focusing on head and neck and bone and soft tissue tumors and has enthusiastically collaborated with basic researchers as well as conducted clinical research throughout her career. Dr. Bocklage serves also as the Vice Chair for Education at the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and is the Director of the Markey Cancer Center’s Biospecimen Procurement and Translational Pathology Shared Resource Facility.
Jordan Brady, MS, CGC
Licensed, Certified Genetic Counselor
St. Elizabeth Healthcare
Edgewood, Kentucky
Jordan Brady currently works as a Genetic Counselor at St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Edgewood, KY, with over two years of experience in the role. She received her MS in Genetic Counseling from Baypath University. Before starting her career as a genetic counselor, she was hired on as the first-ever genetic counseling assistant at St. Elizabeth and helped to establish the position. One of her significant accomplishments includes helping to pioneer a program that ensures all newly diagnosed breast cancer patients are offered genetic testing, a crucial step in personalized cancer care. More recently, Jordan helped establish a neurogenetic program that offers counseling and testing services to patients who previously had to seek care in out-of-state hospitals. Jordan is deeply committed to enhancing patient access to genetic counseling and genetic testing, aiming to advance precision medicine-based healthcare in Kentucky.
Daniel Flora, MD
Director
Oncology Research Program
St. Elizabeth Healthcare
Edgewood, Kentucky
Dr. Daniel Flora is a medical oncologist and the Medical Director for Oncology Research at St. Elizabeth Healthcare. He earned his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Cincinnati and his medical degree from Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, completing his residency and fellowship at the University of Cincinnati.
Dr. Flora specializes in melanoma, non-melanoma skin cancers, breast cancer, and sarcoma. His research interests include early-phase clinical trials, immunotherapy, and the use of ctDNA as a predictive biomarker in precision oncology. He is actively involved in NCI-sponsored cooperative group trials, industry-sponsored studies, and serves on the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology Community Research Committee. His work focuses on advancing community-based oncology research and evaluating novel immunotherapy approaches and cancer therapies. He also has a strong interest in preventative oncology, emphasizing the role of exercise and nutrition in cancer prevention and survivorship.
Joseph Kim, MD
Chief, Division of Surgical Oncology
University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Medical Director, Multidisciplinary Clinic
UK Markey Cancer Center
Lexington, Kentucky
Dr. Kim completed his undergraduate studies at Northwestern University and received his MD degree in 1998 from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He trained in general surgery at the University of Cincinnati, and then completed a three-year fellowship in surgical oncology at the John Wayne Cancer Institute. Following his training, Dr. Kim joined the City of Hope National Medical Center in 2006, where he rose to the rank of associate professor of surgery. Dr. Kim now works at the University of Kentucky and Markey Cancer Center in Lexington, KY, as Professor and Chief of Surgical Oncology.
Jill Kolesar, PharmD, MS, FCCP, BCPS
Jill Kolesar, PharmD, MS, FCCP
Dean and Professor, Jean M. Schmidt Chair in Drug Discovery
University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
Dr. Jill Kolesar serves as Dean and Professor and the Jean M. Schmidt Chair in Drug Discovery at the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, where she also completed a residency and fellowship in oncology. Previously, she was Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Kentucky and the Dr. Michael E. Karpf Endowed Chair in Precision Medicine at Markey Cancer Center. She also held an administrative position at the Markey Cancer Center as the co-leader of the Translational Oncology (TO) Research Program. Under her leadership, TO program funding doubled in 5 years and the cancer center obtained comprehensive status.
Her research focuses on precision medicine and oncology drug development. She has authored more than 400 abstracts, research articles, and book chapters, and as a principal investigator has received more than $25 million in research funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), ARPA-H, the American Cancer Society, and other sources. In addition, she has 9 patents or patents pending and has founded two start-up companies, Helix Diagnostics and VesiCure Technologies, based on technologies developed in her laboratory. She also edits leading pharmacy textbooks, including Pharmacotherapy Principles and Practice, Top 300 Pharmacy, Top 200 Injectables and Top 100 Over the Counter Medication Flash Cards.
Dr. Kolesar contributes substantial and sustained professional service to the NCI, the Oncology Research Information Exchange Network (ORIEN) and several pharmacy organizations. She is currently the chair of the ORIEN Steering committee and is a past president of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP). At NCI she has served on both the Early Phase and Cancer Prevention Central IRBs (CIRBs), multiple NCI study sections, the Cancer Therapy and Evaluation Program (CTEP) Pharmacology task force, and the Investigational Drug Steering Committee. Dr. Kolesar has also received teaching and research awards from local, national, and international organizations including the Innovations in Teaching Award from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.
Donita Lightner, MD
Assistant Professor of Neurology
University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Lexington, Kentucky
Dr. Lightner earned her medical degree from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington. She completed a Pediatric Neurology residency at UK HealthCare and a Pediatrics residency at the University of Louisville Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville. She completed a fellowship in Pediatric Neuro-Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, New York.
She is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Child Neurology.
Clinical interests include neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis, and brain tumors.
Zin Myint, MD
Assistant Professor
Medical Oncology Division, Department of Internal Medicine
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Zin Myint MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, at University of Kentucky. Dr. Myint received her medical degree at the University of Medicine Mandalay, Myanmar. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at Medstar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland and Hematology Oncology fellowship at University of Kentucky. She is a dedicated clinician-scientist, her primary focus lies in the realm of genitourinary cancer, particularly delving into innovative approaches for treating localized prostate cancer, addressing biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer, management of advanced stage prostate cancer, conducting population-based prostate cancer research, bladder cancer research and exploring the use of medical cannabis in the context of cancer treatment. She is also the GU director. She co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed scientific papers and has experience with investigator-initiated clinical trial development, participated in numerous cooperative group trials, and involvement of ETCTN trials.
Reema Patel, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of Hematology and Oncology
University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Lexington, Kentucky
Dr. Reema Patel graduated from Quillen College of Medicine and completed her Internal Medicine residency and Hematology and Medical Oncology at the University of Kentucky. She is the associate program director of the Hematology & Medical Oncology Fellowship at UK and holds a faculty appointment as an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology. She specializes in the treatment of bone and soft-tissue sarcomas, and gastrointestinal malignancies in the setting of a multidisplinary cancer center.
John Villano, MD, PhD
Director of Clinical Neuro-Oncology
Professor, Depts. of Medicine, Neurosurgery, and Neurology
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Dr. John Villano specializes in the treatment of brain and lung cancers, and currently serves as the medical director of the Precision Medicine Center and leads our clinical Neuro-Oncology Research Program. He is an active clinical trial practitioner and has participated in Neuro-Oncology Committee of ALLIANCE and NCI cooperative group activities.
Dr. Villano has been at UK since 2012 and is currently a Professor in the College of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine and the Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery. His MD and PhD degrees are from the University of Texas Southwestern, and received fellowship training at the University of Chicago. He has been a PI for NCI funding and is the current PI for State wide molecular tumor board for pediatric brain tumors funded by Pediatric Cancer Research Trust Fund (PCRTF).
