Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship

Applicants must complete the online application form at the Society of Surgical Oncology website. 

Required materials include:
 

• A current curriculum vitae
• A personal statement
• Three letters of recommendation (one letter being from the Director of the residency program)
• A recent photograph

The curriculum will enable fellows to acquire advanced knowledge and skills in the surgical and multidisciplinary management of breast cancer. Currently, more than 300 faculty members from various disciplines interact and treat patients in the breast program. There are currently 24 breast surgical oncologists who participate in the training of our breast fellows.

The program is a one-year clinical fellowship that includes rotations in Breast Surgical Services, Oncoplastic and Reconstructive Breast Surgery, Radiation Oncology, Breast Medical Oncology, Breast Imaging, Breast Pathology, and dedicated time for clinical research with the opportunity to present at the leading national meetings on cancer and surgery. 

Program fellows will have considerable exposure to many disciplines, including genetic counseling, rehabilitative medicine, psychiatry, and patient advocacy. 

The fellow will participate in multiple teaching conferences throughout the year, some of which are:
 

• Weekly breast education conferences by leading faculty in their field
• Twice weekly multidisciplinary care conferences
• Weekly benign clinical management conference
• Quarterly breast cancer clinical research findings update
• Journal club
• Weekly institutional wide cancer core curriculum lectures

The Breast Surgical Oncology Training Program is conducted in a vibrant research environment comprising several research laboratories and state-of-the-art research facilities. Through our translational research program, scientists and clinicians from multiple disciplines collaborate on every aspect of breast cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Currently, nearly 200 active diagnostic, therapeutic, and clinical research protocols are available for our patients with breast cancer or those at high risk for developing it. The institution ranks first in the number of research grants awarded by the National Cancer Institute.

The faculty and staff of the Breast Surgical Oncology Training Program are committed to providing leadership in clinical breast cancer care, clinical research, and laboratory-based research that will lead to the prevention and eradication of breast cancer. Fellows participate in prospective and retrospective clinical studies utilizing our databases with mentorship from faculty and assistance from our database and statistical personnel. The quality of these research studies allows for peer-reviewed publications in the world’s leading medical journals.

Currently, four (one-year) fellowship positions are available. To be eligible for fellowship, applicants must have successfully completed their residency training in general surgery in an accredited program in the United States or Canada, and have obtained qualifications to sit for the examination of the American Board of Surgery. Foreign applicants with equivalent qualifications may apply.

MD Anderson is located in Houston's Texas Medical Center which offers:

• The finest in medical education and treatment
• Numerous parks, including Hermann Park which has an outdoor theater and large zoo
• An academic and cultural area that includes Baylor College of Medicine, Rice and St. Thomas Universities, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Arts
• Close proximity to Houston's prestigious symphony orchestra, opera, theater and ballet

Other sites of note within a few minutes drive include Sam Houston Raceway Park, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion, Downtown Aquarium, Space Center Houston, Lone Star Flight Museum, NRG Stadium, Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center and the George R. Brown Convention Center. For more information, go to Visit Houston. The cost of living is moderate and housing is reasonable.

Since the Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship was established, we have trained 67 fellows who currently practice around the world. Learn where our alumni are now below.

• Alexa Glencer, M.D. - Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Palo Alto, California
• Alexandra Moore, M.D. - Kaiser Permanente, Vallejo, California
• Alycia So, M.D. - Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Kerollos Wanis, M.D., Ph.D. - MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

2022-2023            

• Shlermine A. Everidge, M.D. - Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
• Helen M. Johnson, M.D. - MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
• Ashley A. Woodfin, M.D. - University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
• Shruti Zaveri, M.D., MPH - The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas

• Kjirsten Carlson, M.D. - Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, California
• Adrienne N. Cobb, M.D., M.S. - Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Clara R. Farley, M.D. - Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
• Elizabeth Poli, M.D., M.S. - NorthShore University Health System, Evanston, Illinois

2020-2021

• Taiwo Adesoye, M.D. - MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
• Solange Cox, M.D. - MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
• Leisha C. Elmore, M.D., MPHS - University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Alicia Heelan, M.D., M.S. - University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

2019-2020

• Lyndsey Kilgore, M.D.  - University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
• Diana Liang, M.D.  - MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
• Brittany Murphy, M.D., M.S.  - Banner MD Anderson, Gilbert, Arizona
• Lauren Postlewait, M.D. - Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

2018-2019

• Matthew Piotrowski, M.D. - MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
• Benjamin Raber, M.D. - Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center, Santa Clara, California
• Puneet Singh, M.D. - MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
• Susie Sun, M.D. - MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

2017-2018
 

• Suliat M. Nurudeen, M.D. - University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland
• Ko Un 'Clara' Park, M.D. - Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio
• Natalia Spinelli Partain, M.D. - University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas
• Sarah E.A. Tevis, M.D. - University of Colorado, Highlands Ranch, Colorado

• Vivian Jolley Bea, M.D., MBS - NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, New York
• Kelly Joyce Rosso, M.D. - Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, Gilbert, Arizona
• Audree Blythe Tadros, M.D., MPH - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
• Anna Catherine Weiss, M.D. - University of Rochester, Rochester, New York

2015-2016

• Stacey Carter, M.D. - Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
• Oluwadamilola 'Lola' Fayanju, M.D. - The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
• Rhiana S. Menen, M.D. - St. Luke's Clinic, Meridian, Idaho
• Katrina Mitchell, M.D. - Ridley Tree Cancer Center, Santa Barbara, California

2014-2015

• John Colfry, III, M.D. - Touro Infirmary, New Orleans, Louisiana
• Catherine Loveland-Jones, M.D., MS - MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper, Voorhees Township, New Jersey
• Makesha Vernee Miggins, M.D. - MD Anderson Cancer Center, Sugar Land, Texas
• Candice Sauder, M.D., M.Ed. - University of California, Davis

2013-2014

• Julie Cupp, M.D. - Willis Knighton Breast Health and Surgical Specialists, Shreveport, Louisiana
• Meeghan Lautner, M.D. - University of  Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin
• Catherine Parker, M.D. - University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama
• Mediget Teshome, M.D. - MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

2012-2013
 

• Elizabeth FitzSullivan, M.D. - MD Anderson Cancer Center, The Woodlands, Texas
• Michelle Shen, M.D. - Virtua Breast Care, Moorestown, New Jersey

• Lisa R. Allen, M.D. - Capital Health Center for Comprehensive Breast Care, Pennington, New Jersey
• Rosalinda Alvarado, M.D. - Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
• Sarah M. DeSnyder, M.D. - MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

2010-2011

• Catherine Akay, M.D. - MD Anderson Cancer Center, West Houston, Texas
• Jessica Suarez Colen, M.D., MPH - MD Anderson Cancer Center, West Houston, Texas

2009-2010

• Catherine M. Kelly, M.D. (Komen Fellow) - Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
• Ranjna Sharma, M.D. - SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York
• Jamie L. Wagner, DO - The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas

2008-2009

• Laura S. Dominici, M.D. - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
• Viviana Negron Gonzalez, M.D. - Auxilio Centro de Cancer, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• April Latrice (Spencer) Speed, M.D. - Just Breast, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia

2007-2008
                                                                                                   

• Amanda Kong, M.D., MS - Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Jonathan Nelson, M.D. - Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Houston, Texas
• Alexandra Shaye Brown, M.D. (Komen Fellow) - University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi 

• Regina Fearmonti, M.D. - Alon Aesthetics Plastic Surgery, San Antonio, Texas
• Julie E. Lang, M.D. - Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
• Loren Rourke, M.D. (Komen Fellow) - Texas Oncology, The Woodlands, Texas

2005-2006

• Judy C. Boughey, M.D. - Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
• Shaheenah Dawood, MBBCh, MPH - Mediclinic Parkview Hospital, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Jacqueline S. Jeruss, M.D., Ph.D. - University of Michigan Breast Care Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Kari M. Rosenkranz, M.D. - Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire

2004-2005

• Emer Hanrahan, M.D. (Komen Fellow) - St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
• Nazanin Khakpour, M.D. - H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, Florida
• Roshni Rao, M.D. - Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York

2003-2004

• Kazumi Kawase, M.D., Ph.D. - Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
• Jeannie Shen, M.D. - Huntington Hospital, Cedars-Sinai, Pasadena, California

2002-2003
 

• Tara Breslin, M.D. - St. Joseph Mercy and St. Mary Mercy Hospitals, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Anees B. Chagpar, MD, MSc, MPH, MA, MBA - Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
• Christine Laronga, M.D. - H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, Florida
• Lisa Newman, M.D., MPH - Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, New York
• Tina W. F. Yen, M.D., MS - Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Several members of our own faculty came from the Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship Program. Faculty alumni include:
 

• Taiwo Adesoye, M.D. (2020-2021)
• Catherine Akay, M.D. (2010-2011)
• Jessica Suarez Colen, M.D., MPH (2010-2011)
• Solange Cox, M.D. (2020-2021)
• Sarah M. DeSnyder, M.D. (2011-2012)
• Elizabeth FitzSullivan, M.D. (2012-2013)
• Helen M. Johnson, M.D. (2022-2023)
• Diana Liang, M.D. (2019-2020)
• Makesha Vernee Miggins, M.D. (2014-2015)
• Matthew Piotrowski, M.D. (2018-2019)
• Puneet Singh, M.D. (2018-2019)
• Susie Sun, M.D. (2018-2019)
• Kerollos Wanis, M.D., Ph.D. (2023-2024)