Radiation Oncology Residency at MD Anderson
Radiation Oncology Residency
The MD Anderson residency program in radiation oncology is
an advanced, four-year program certified by the Accreditation Council for
Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
With 24 residents and more than 100 faculty on our Main Campus, the program provides comprehensive clinical training to physicians preparing to practice full-time radiation oncology and introduces them to clinical, translational, and/or laboratory-based research. Our goal is to develop the careers of future leaders in academic radiation oncology.
At the completion of the program, our residents are well-versed in the overall management of radiotherapy cases and are proficient with brachytherapy procedures and advanced radiation therapy techniques including proton therapy, MRI guided radiotherapy, stereotactic ablative radiation therapy of multiple sites, gamma knife radiosurgery, total body irradiation and total skin electron beam therapy.
Letter from our Program Director
Welcome and thank you for your interest in the Radiation Oncology Residency Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. As the program director and alumna, it is my privilege to introduce you to our renowned training program.
There have been so many amazing changes since I was a resident. Many are a product of the brilliant ideas and the work and dedication of our residents and fellows, and others have naturally manifested due to COVID-19 and the need to restructure how we teach, meet and learn.
While we have maintained many aspects of the residency program that have been a cornerstone of clinical training at MD Anderson over the past few years, we’ve also enhanced the curriculum and expanded opportunities for rotations, learning and research.
The Fletcher Cox Pathway was established to focus resident growth and learning in clinical trial development and implementation. Residents and fellows routinely participate actively in prospective trial work, which provides them with invaluable experience for their future careers in radiation oncology. Formal coursework through the University of Texas McGovern Medical School is offered as a part of this pathway.
The Global Oncology Global Cancer Care Track was created in collaboration with then resident Dr. Chidinma Anakwenze, now a current faculty member, to afford exposure to radiation oncology care abroad. Our Bioinformatics pathway, another track developed in partnership with Dr. Brian De when he was a resident (now faculty), provides formal training in data science and informatics at the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics. Moreover, we continue to train successful physician scientists through the Holman Pathway. Most importantly, we remain committed to providing our residents with exceptional clinical training through support of our committed faculty.
In true MD Anderson tradition, we still find time to hang out together outside of the hospital. Sporting events remain popular. We have grown fond of our Taco Run meet ups where we run the Rice University 5k trail and enjoy post-run tacos and drinks. The fruits of our training labor were manifested at ASTRO this year; our MD Anderson team took home the winning trophy in the ROI 5k Run.
Our team continues to expand, which has provided opportunities for us to develop and grow in the education space. I work alongside two fantastic associate residency program directors, Dr. Emma Holliday and Dr. Comron Hassanzadeh. We have robust medical student programming led by medical student program director, Dr. Jillian Gunther and medical student associate program director, Dr. Devarati Mitra. Our team is supported by our administrative Dream Team, led by our director of education administration, Denise De La Cruz, Ph.D.
We are committed to improving our programs’ curricula and the training experience for our residents in addition to nurturing a culture of connection and mentoring. To this end, our Visiting Professorship program is thoughtfully planned and thoroughly integrated with our Division of Radiation Oncology Grand Rounds.
Thank you for considering the Radiation Oncology Residency Program. We look forward to welcoming you to our team.
Meet our Current Residents
First-Year Residents
Cira Mollings Puentes, M.D. earned her medical degree at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Outside of work, Cira enjoys dancing, floral arrangement, and watching international dramas. Her research interests include quality improvement and implementation science.
Harshath “Harshi” Gupta, M.D. earned his medical degree at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In his free time, Harshi enjoys board games, escape rooms, salsa dancing, and cooking. His research focuses on cancer genetics and epigenetics, biomarkers for response to radiation treatment, and radiomics.
Forrest Kwong, M.D. earned his medical degree at Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine. In his spare time, Forrest enjoys playing tennis, running, and board games. His research focuses on central nervous system malignancies, intracranial arteriovenous malformations, and metabolic predictors of survival in pancreatic cancer.
Pranalee Patel, M.D. earned her medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine. In her free time, Pranalee enjoys board games, playing pickleball, and trying new vegan recipes. She is interested in predictors of acute and long-term toxicities following radiation therapy and optimizing radiation techniques to reduce toxicity development.
Ansel Nalin, M.D. earned his medical degree from Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health. In his free time, Ansel enjoys distance running, golf, and board games. He is interested in mechanisms of cancer immunology, the effects of radiation on the immune response and tumor microenvironment, and the combination of radiation and immunotherapy.
Jane Pearce, M.D. earned her medical degree from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. In her spare time, Jane enjoys running, yoga, traveling, reading, and spending time with family and friends. Pearce is dedicated to health equity, patient-reported outcomes, and precision medicine.
Second-Year Residents
Rehema Thomas, M.D. earned her medical degree from George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Outside of work, Rehema loves traveling, pilates, spending time with friends, and watching reality TV and true crime shows. Her research interests include sexual toxicity, breast and GYN cancers, access to care, and workforce diversity.
Patrick Carriere, II, M.D., Ph.D. earned his medical degree at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Patrick is passionate about being a husband, father, and man of faith, and loves traveling, landscape photography, and supporting the Lakers. His research focuses on FLASH radiation therapy, the interplay between radiation and immunology, patient-reported outcomes, patient access and outcome disparities, predictive biomarkers for radiation sensitivity, and global oncology.
Jordan McDonald, M.D. earned her medical degree at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. In her spare time, Jordan enjoys running, playing sports (especially volleyball), lifting, board/card games, spending time with friends and family, playing with dogs, and enjoying Houston's food scene. Her research interests include quality of life, patient experience, medical and patient education, and radiomics.
Cesar Marquez, M.D., Ph.D. earned his medical degree at Stanford School of Medicine. Outside of work, Cesar loves traveling, urban hiking, exploring eclectic shops, reading historical fiction, and dancing to various Latin music genres. His research interests include diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, targeted biologics in solid tumors, and the integration of AI in treatment delivery, with a focus on equitable care.
Robert Warren Floyd, M.D., Ph.D. earned his medical degree at Duke University School of Medicine. In his spare time, Warren loves adventures with his family, perfecting dad jokes, watching football, reading fantasy and science fiction, traveling, hiking, and playing narrative action/adventure video games. His research focuses on radiologic and biologic markers of tumor and normal tissue treatment response to guide personalized, adaptive radiotherapy.
Troy Kleber, M.D. earned his medical degree at Emory University School of Medicine. In his spare time Troy enjoys reading science fiction, eating barbecue, and spending time outdoors. His research interests include data analytics, meta-epidemiological research, and optimizing treatment options for brain metastases.
Third-Year Residents
Elaine Cha, M.D. earned her medical degree from University of Illinois College of Medicine. In her free time, Elaine enjoys thrifting, home DIY projects, checking out local cafes, stargazing, and spending quality time with friends and family. Her research focuses on clinical implementation science, database analysis, and health services research.
Adam Gripp, M.D., Ph.D. earned her medical degree at University of Florida College of Medicine. In his spare time, Adam enjoys running, swimming, surfing, and spending time with his kids, Ben and Kennedy. His research focuses on cancer immunotherapy, translational research, and mRNA therapeutics.
Kamaria Lee, M.D. earned her medical degree at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. In her spare time, Kamaria enjoys walks in Houston parks and music. Her research focuses on global oncology and health equity, including implementation sciences, health services research, and the intersection of global politics and cancer care.
Ramez Kouzy, M.D. earned his medical degree at American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine. Outside of work, Ramez enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, lounging in a hammock, and playing pickleball. His research focuses on improving patient-centered care by leveraging large datasets, evaluating clinical trials, and enhancing evidence synthesis, with a particular interest in AI's role in medical research.
Stephanie Dudzinski, M.D., Ph.D. earned her medical degree at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. In her free time, Steph enjoys visiting playgrounds with her son, playing competitive tennis, exploring Latin dance scenes, and trying Houston's food with her husband. Her research focuses on clinical trials and translational research to understand the modulation of the tumor immune microenvironment with radiation and immunotherapy, and improving Radiation Oncology education.
Enoch Chang, M.D. earned his medical degree at Yale School of Medicine. In his
free time, Enoch enjoys fostering friendships over home-cooked meals, live music, playing tennis and pickleball, rooting for the Dodgers, Lakers, and Rams, watching Formula 1, and exploring BBQ. His research interests include novel radioenhancers, quantitative imaging biomarkers, radiotherapy for metastatic disease, and AI applications in clinical oncology.
Fourth-Year Residents
Alexander Sherry, M.D. earned his medical degree at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Outisde of work, Alex enjoys spending time outdoors with his family, camping, skiing, hiking, exploring local restaurants, and supporting the New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers football teams. His research focuses on ablative radiotherapy in metastatic disease, the immune response to radiotherapy, functional stereotactic radiosurgery, data science, and clinical trials methodology.
Benjamin Schrank, M.D., Ph.D. earned his medical degree at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. In his spare time, Ben enjoys playing the cello, composing music, and exploring vegetarian-friendly cuisine with his husband, Andrew. His research focuses on genome instability in diseases of aging, including dementia and cancer, and the immunogenic potential of the DNA damage response.
Michael Rooney, M.D. earned his medical degree at University of Illinois College of Medicine. Outside of work, Michael enjoys trying new restaurants and going to parks. His research interests include causal inference and data science.
Kathryn Marqueen, M.D. earned her medical degree at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Outside of work, Kathryn enjoys cooking and baking, playing the piano and harp, participating in sports, and fantasy football. Her research interests include economic aspects of cancer care, analyzing treatment outcomes, and modeling the value of oncologic treatments.
Aaron Seo, M.D., Ph.D. earned his medical degree at University of Washington School of Medicine. In his spare time, Aaron enjoys sourdough bread baking, specialty coffee, jogging, and hiking. His research interests include genetics and genomics to inform mechanisms of radiation response, clinical response to radiation treatment, and exploratory biomarker analyses within clinical trials.
Vincent Bernard Pagan, M.D., Ph.D. earned his medical degree at University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. In his spare time, Vince enjoys running, weekend trips to Costco, and spending time with his family. His research focuses on systems oncology, leveraging advanced techniques in single-cell and spatial biology to understand immune dynamics within the TME and the molecular mechanisms of radioresponse.
Meet Our Alumni
2022-2024
2024
Chike Abana, M.D., Ph.D.
Virginia Oncology Associates
Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Hampton, VA
Lauren Andring, M.D.
St. Charles Cancer Center
Bend, OR
Kelsey Corrigan, M.D., MPH
Radiation Oncology Associates
Milwaukee, WI
Gohar Manzar, M.D., Ph.D.
MD Anderson Cancer Center, Pediatrics Section,
Houston, TX
Julius Weng, M.D.
City of Hope
Irvine, California
Alison Yoder, M.D., MPH
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX
2023
Julianna Bronk, M.D., Ph.D.
MD Anderson Cancer Center, Thoracic Service
Houston, TX
Brian De, M.D.
MD Anderson Cancer Center, Central NervousSystem Service
Houston, TX
Kevin Diao, M.D.
PIH Health, Los Angeles, CA
Yufei Liu, M.D., Ph.D.
City of Hope Cancer Center
Duarte, CA
Sean Maroongroge, M.D., MBA
City of Hope Cancer Center
Duarte, CA
Gwendolyn “Wendy” McGinnis, M.D.
Oregon Clinic, Radiation Oncology
Portland, OR
Alan Sosa, M.D.
Community Health Network
Indianapolis, IN
2022
Chidinma Pamela Anakwenze, M.D., MPH,
MD Anderson League City HAL
League City, TX
David Boyce-Fappiano, M.D., MHM
Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center
Ogdensburg, NY
Olsi Gjyshi, M.D., Ph.D.
Saint Elizabeth Cancer Center
Edgewood, KY
Sonal Noticewala, M.D., MAS
MD Anderson CancerRadiation Oncology Gastrointestinal Service
Houton, TX
Todd Pezzi, M.D., MBA
Advocate Radiation Oncology
Naples, FL
Moaaz Soliman, M.D.
Texas Oncology
El Paso, TX
Nicolette Taku, M.D., M.Phil., MPH
MD Anderson Cancer Center, Gynecology Service
Galveston, TX
2018-2021
2021
Alexander Augustyn, M.D., Ph.D.
Community Health Network
Indianapolis, IN
Alexander Francis Bagley, M.D., Ph.D.
Samaritan Health Services
Corvallis, OR
Samantha Marie Buszek, M.D.
Community Health Network
Indianapolis, IN
Bhavana Sree Vangara Chapman, M.D.
Cancer Specialists of North Florida
Jacksonville, FL
Stephen Richard Grant, M.D.
Intermountain Healthcare
St. George, UT
Shane Mesko, M.D., MBA|
Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center
San Diego, CA
Dario Pasalic, M.D.
Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers
Boulder, CO
2020
Eric D. Brooks, M.D., M.H.S.
UF Health Proton Therapy Institute
Jacksonville, Florida
Kaitlin Marie Christopherson, M.D.
Orlando Health UF Health Care Center
Orlando, Florida
Adnan Mousa Elhammali, M.D., Ph.D.
Northeast Georgia Health
System, Gainesville, Georgia
Ahsan Farooqi, M.D., Ph.D.
MD Anderson Radiation Oncology Melanoma and Sarcoma Service, Houston, TX
Ethan Bernard Ludmir, M.D.
MD Anderson Radiation Oncology Gastrointestinal Service
Houston, TX
Shalini Moningi, M.D.
Dana-Farber Cancer Center
Boston, Massachusetts
Matthew S. Ning, M.D.
MD Anderson Radiation Oncology Thoracic Service
Houston, TX
2019
Lauren E. Colbert, M.D. M.S.C.R.
MD Anderson Radiation Oncology Gynecology Service
Houston, TX
Penny Fang, M.D., MBA
MD Anderson Radiation Oncology Lymphoma Service
Houston, TX
Jennifer Logan, M.D.
Orlando Health UF Health Care Center
Orlando, Florida
Amy Moreno, M.D.
MD Anderson Radiation Oncology Head and Neck Service
Houston, Texas
Courtney Pollard, III, M.D., Ph.D.
Peachtree Radiation Oncology Services
Atlanta, Georgia
Tommy Sheu, M.D., MPH
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California
Shane Stecklein, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
2018
Brian John Deegan, M.D., Ph.D.
Cancer Specialists of North Florida
Jacksville, Florida
Aaron J. Grossberg, M.D., Ph.D.
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland, Oregon
Jennifer Chen Ho, M.D.
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California
Wen Jiang, M.D., Ph.D.
UT Southwestern
Dallas, Texas
Geoffrey Vincent Martin, M.D.
Southern Ohio Medical Center
Portsmouth, Ohio
Hubert Young Pan, M.D.
Sutter Health
Sacramento, California
2014-2017
2017
William Warren Chance, M.D.
Salem Health Cancer Institute
Salem, Oregon
Jillian Rebecca Gunther, M.D., Ph.D.
MD Anderson Radiation Oncology Lymphoma Service
Houston, Texas
Eleanor Marshall Osborne, M.D., M.S.
Tennessee Oncology, Nashville, Tennessee
Jay Paul Reddy, M.D., Ph.D.
MD Anderson Radiation Oncology Head & Neck and Breast Services, Houston, Texas
Cameron Williams Swanick, M.D.
Orlando Health UF Health Care Center
Orlando, Florida
Chad Tang, M.D.
MD Anderson Radiation Oncology Genitourinary Service
Houston, Texas
2016
Andrew Bishop, M.D.
MD Anderson Radiation Oncology Melanoma & Sarcoma Services Houston, Texas
Nicholas Boehling, M.D.,
St. Charles Cancer Center, Bend, Oregon
Mark Edson, M.D., Ph.D.
Colorado Permanente Medical Group, Denver, Colorado
Emma Holliday, M.D.
MD Anderson Radiation Oncology Gastrointestinal Service
Houston, Texas
Randa Tao, M.D.
Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute
Salt Lake City, Utah
Nikhil Thaker, M.D.
Arizona Oncology, The US Oncology Network
Arizona
Contact Information
Division of Radiation Oncology - Unit 1422
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
1400 Pressler St., FCT6.5000
Houston, TX 77030
Phone: 713-792-2534
Fax: 713-563-8645
Email: ddlcruz@mdanderson.org
MD Anderson Cancer Center is committed to encouraging good health and staying true to our mission to end cancer. If you are applying for a GME fellowship or residency program starting on or after July 1, 2016, please be advised that MD Anderson will have instituted a tobacco-free hiring process as part of its efforts to achieve these goals. If you are offered an appointment, you will be subject to a Pre-Employment Drug Screen for tobacco compounds in compliance with applicable state laws. If you do not pass the urine drug screening which includes testing for tobacco compounds, you CANNOT be appointed at MD Anderson. Should you fail to meet this contingency, MD Anderson will withdraw your offer of appointment for the academic year. You may reapply for the following academic year, but there are no guarantees that you will be offered a position as many of our programs are already filled for several years out.
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