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Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

ISSN: 2253-5969


Dr Ahmed Kaseb

Dr Kaseb

Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

Dr. Ahmed Omar Kaseb is a tenured and endowed professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston, Texas. He is the John E. and Dorothy J. Harris Professor in Gastrointestinal Cancer Research and is a member of the National Hepatobiliary Task Force, NCI, USA. He serves as the overall clinical Principal Investigator and Director of The University of Texas MD Anderson Hepatocellular Carcinoma major NCI grant; specialized program of research excellence (SPORE). He is the Program Director of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), at the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.

Dr. Kaseb received his medical degree from Cairo University in 1996, and worked as a research fellow at University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and completed Internal Medicine Residency at Wayne State University, in Detroit, Michigan and Medical oncology fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital, in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Kaseb joined the department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2007 to lead the HCC program.

Dr. Kaseb is heavily focused on HCC clinical and translational research where he has served as key principal investigator on several clinical trials over the past 16 years, including pivotal trials that led to FDA-approval of new drugs in HCC. Dr. Kaseb’s principal research interests include HCC systemic and multi-disciplinary therapies, in addition to molecular staging studies that led to major publications of several new HCC staging and stratification systems. Dr. Kaseb’s work has contributed greatly to the understanding of HCC interdisciplinary therapies and molecular staging, and has received governmental/federal, foundation and pharmaceutical funding for several projects and clinical trials.

Dr. Kaseb has extensively authored and co-authored over 150 papers and book chapters. Dr. Kaseb serves as an Editor and Scientific Reviewer for several international medical journals, and has received several national and international awards throughout his career, including awards from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American College of Physicians (ACP). He is an active member of several international societies and has served on several committees and advisory boards at the national and international levels, including United States NCI and department of defense study sections, and has participated in several international expert consensus conferences, and major societies guidelines committees in the area of HCC.


Dr Rony Avritscher

Dr Avritscher

Department of Interventional Radiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

Rony Avritscher, MD Professor of Interventional Radiology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and co-chair of translational research for the Department of Interventional Radiology. Dr. Avritscher earned his medical degree from the University of Sao Paulo, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He completed his radiology residency at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston and Interventional Radiology Fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is certified by the American Board of Radiology and holds a Certificate of Added Qualification in Interventional Radiology.

His main research focus is in image-guided interventions for liver cancers, including translational research in animal models of liver disease and catheter-based therapies. He established an independent laboratory and is the recipient of a prestigious individual investigator-initiated grant awards from the American Cancer Society (ACS) and Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) focusing on characterizing the heterogeneous nature of liver tumor immune microenvironment after image-guided therapies, as well as implementing novel molecular and imaging approaches to reduce disease recurrence.

Dr. Avritscher is the current chair of research steering committee for the society of interventional oncology (SIO) and chair of the interventional radiology planning subcommittee for the Radiological Society of North America. He received the Editor’s Award for Outstanding Laboratory Investigation from the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Distinguished Laboratory Investigation from the Society of Interventional Oncology, and Division of Imaging Outstanding Research Award for Basic and/or Translational Research from MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Avritscher was elected a fellow of the Society of Interventional Radiology in 2018. His other interests include advanced hybrid suite imaging, lymphatic interventions, and cirrhosis.


Dr Laura A. Dawson

Dr Dawson

Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Laura Dawson is a Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto, and a practicing radiation oncologist at the Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, in Toronto. She is an internationally recognized leader in hepatocellular carcinoma and in oligo-metastases. Her research has primarily focused on implementation of advanced radiation technologies (e.g. stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), advanced imaging and image guidance) to improve outcomes and to reduce the risk of toxicity in patients with liver cancer. She is the principal investigator of two randomized phase III clinical trials investigating the use of radiation therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma (RTOG1112 and CCTG HE1), and she has led local investigator SBRT combined modality trials hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Dr. Dawson has published over 200 scientific papers and has mentored over 50 students from around the world. She has received numerous awards for her teaching, research and impact in oncology.


Dr Khaled Elsayes

Dr Elsayes

Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

Dr. Khaled Elsayes is a Professor and director of mentoring and advancement, department of abdominal imaging at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and The University of Texas John P. and Katherine G. McGovern Medical School in Houston. Dr. Elsayes currently serves as the President of University of Texas Shine Academy of Health Science Education, chief editor of Academy of Online Radiology Education, and he leads many national efforts such as serving as the co-chair of LI-RADS education and outreach committee as well as serving as the associate editor for Radiographics.

Dr. Elsayes is a well-known world renowned radiologist with more than 250 peer review publications and 400 abstracts, 100 visiting professorships and over 100 international awards (including 2014, 2017 and 2018 RSNA honored educator award, Society of Abdominal Radiology 2017 Richard Marshak Award and 2021-2022 Igor Laufer Visiting Professor Award).

Dr. Elsayes is an imminent speaker in national and international conferences, fellow of numerous international societies. He is also an editorial member of several international journals and author of three radiology textbooks; "Introduction to Diagnostic Radiology" published by McGraw-Hill, "Cross Sectional Imaging of the Abdomen and Pelvis" published by Springer, "Pitfalls of the Abdomen and Pelvis" published by Elsevier.

Dr. Khaled Elsayes currently serves as the president of University of Texas Kenneth Shine Academy for Health Science Education. He enjoys partnering with many wonderful, intelligent colleagues. He holds honor in helping others and brings value and contributions that focus in teaching and centering the newest and most up-to-date information to his mentees. Partners to present the newest technologies and improved methods and processes for diagnosis and creating an action plan to help treat patients and fight the disease


Dr David Gerber

Dr Gerber

Christian R. Holmes Professor of Surgery and Chair, Department of Surgery, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

David A. Gerber, MD is the Christian R. Holmes Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Gerber received his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh and completed general surgery training at Emory University in Atlanta, GA with a post-doctoral fellowship in Transplantation Immunology. He subsequently completed his clinical transplant fellowship at the Starzl Transplantation Institute at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Clinically he has expertise in solid organ transplantation with a focus on liver cancer including the integration of navigation into minimally invasive surgery procedures.

Dr. Gerber has received over 25 basic science grants including extramural funding from the National Institutes of Health, the American Liver Foundation, the Roche Organ Transplant Research Foundation, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, and the American College of Surgeons. He has been principal investigator or co-investigator of more than 40 industry-sponsored clinical trials focusing on advancing patient outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma and transplantation. He has published over 200 peer reviewed publications, peer-reviewed abstracts and book chapters in the areas of liver cancer, transplantation, stem cell biology, and regenerative medicine. In addition, he has received two patents and has given over 100 national and international presentations in healthcare and biotechnology.


Dr Manal Hassan

Dr Hassan

Department of Epidemiology, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

Dr. Manal Hassan trained to become a physician with master and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in public health and epidemiology from the University of Texas. Since joining the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer center, Dr. Hassan has focused her research on the molecular epidemiology of hepatobiliary cancers in the US, with an emphasis on investigating new risk factors and biomarkers for early detection and cancer prevention. She specifically highlighted the impact of obesity on the risk and clinical outcome of rare cancers including liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, adrenocortical cancer, and neuroendocrine cancer.

Dr. Hassan has been involved in several educational activities and served on the advisory committee for many graduate students. She has also been engaged in the reviewing panels of high impact journals and research funding agencies. She earned several awards from the National Cancer Institute where she has collaborated extensively with investigators inside and outside USA in several translational researches yielding many high impact publications in the field of cancer epidemiology. Currently, she is leading a national consortium to study the epidemiology of liver cancers in North America.


Dr Ali Hosni

Dr Hosni

Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada

Dr. Hosni is an Associate Professor at University of Toronto's Department of Radiation Oncology and a radiation oncologist clinician-investigator at the Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, as well as a clinician-scientist of the Ontario Association of Radiation Oncologists. 

His research focus relates to his MSc and PhD work and is aligned with his training and clinical expertise in head and neck cancer and gastrointestinal malignancies. He has a global interest in clinical and experimental radiobiology with a specific focus on the radiobiological principles that derive the tumour response and treatment-related toxicity.

The overarching goal of his academic career and creative professional activity is to improve the value of cancer care through developing optimal radiation therapeutic approach. Through implementing technology-driven research for radiation therapy innovation that contributes to clinical improvement, building and validation of outcome prediction models, and uncovering novel biomarkers that can be the basis of future clinical trials evaluating tailored new treatment de-escalation or intensification strategies.


Dr Mohamed Shaker

Dr Shaker

Department of Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

Mohamed Kamal Shaker is an Emeritus Professor of Tropical Medicine and Hepatology at Ain Shams University. He cofounded the Hepatoma Group in March 2002, which is the first MDT in Egypt and the Middle East, cofounded the Egyptian Society for Liver cancer in 2009, participated in putting together the Egyptian guidelines for HCC in 2011 and its updates in 2021. Prof. Dr. Shaker was an invited speaker in AASLD 2011 and 2012 where he gave lectures on HCC in Africa, an invited speaker in Essen university giving lectures on epidemiology of HCC in Egypt. He was also an invited speaker at the ILCA meeting 2015 presenting a lecture on epidemiology of HCC in Egypt, and an invited speaker at the APASL meeting 2015 where he gave a lecture about viral hepatitis in Egypt. 

Prof. Dr. Shaker has participated in the PATH program Cairo and Dubai as faculty, supervised several MSc and MD thesis dealing with HCC, and published several papers on HCC. He is a member of the supreme committee for HCC in the Health Insurance Organization, a former director of the Hepatoma Group Ain Shams University, former President of the Egyptian Society for Liver cancer. Prof. Dr. Shaker was a member of the national committee for the control of viral hepatitis until 2018. A continued member of the supreme committee of viral hepatitis and the supreme committee for liver transplantation in a health insurance organization. As well as a member of the ethical committee for liver transplantation in Ain Shams specialized hospital. He was a member of the committee for promotion of Assistant Professor and Professor for 6 consecutive years. This is in addition to being a member of several societies of Hepatology in Egypt, and founder of viral hepatitis committee in HIO, in 2009, where he worked as the director of the committee until 2020, and was the President of Tropical Medicine Department Faculty of Medicine Ain Shams University 2014-2017.


Dr Hop Tran Cao

Dr Tran Cao

Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

Dr. Tran Cao is an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He specializes in the management of hepatopancreatobiliary and neuroendocrine tumors and is an expert in the judicious and safe application of minimally invasive techniques in their surgical management.

His research focuses on quality of cancer care, and on the precision with which it is delivered. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles, editorials, and book chapters examining treatment outcomes for HPB cancers, minimally invasive surgery, and the use of fluorescence-guided surgery in oncology.

Dr. Tran Cao chairs the MIS Training Taskforce for the Division of Surgery. He is also the director of the MIS Training Committee in the Department of Surgical Oncology, a role in which he stewarded the development of a robotic training curriculum incorporating the use of biotissues and virtual simulation. His passion for education and dedication to mentorship extends to research training, where his leadership of the HPB Fellows Research Consortium earned him the Faculty Research Education Teacher Award.

Dr. Tran Cao completed his General Surgery residency at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and his fellowship in Complex General Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson. He resides in Houston with his wife, Dr. Carol Tran Cao (OB-GYN), and their three children.


Prof. Dr. Jörg Trojan

Prof. Dr. Trojan

Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

Dr. Jörg Trojan is a Professor of Medicine and Head of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Unit within the Department of Medicine 1, Goethe University Hospital and University Cancer Center Frankfurt, one of the largest comprehensive cancer centers in Germany. He was appointed in 2008 to his current position. His clinical areas of expertise include gastrointestinal oncology, gastroenterology & hepatology, and gastrointestinal endoscopy. After receiving his medical training from the Goethe University Medical School (Frankfurt, Germany), Ruprecht-Karls-University (Heidelberg, Germany), Duke Medical School (Durham, NC, USA), and Baylor College (Houston, Tx, USA) Dr. Trojan completed post-doctoral fellowships in gastroenterology at the University Hospital in Frankfurt and carried out research at the Institute of Molecular Cancer Research, University of Zurich on DNA mismatch repair deficiency.

Dr. Trojan’s current research interests include immuno-oncological treatments and biomarkers in gastrointestinal cancer with special focus on hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, pancreatic and colorectal cancer. Currently, he is conducting several pivotal studies in these entities as national lead investigator. He has co-authored and authored numerous manuscripts, book chapters, and reviews, including publications in Lancet, Lancet Oncology, Annals of Oncology, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Journal of Hepatology. He is member of the German Cancer Society and the German Society for Digestive and Metabolic Diseases (DGVS). He is steering committee member of the national S3 guidelines on hepatocellular cancer and biliary tract cancer, and additionally has co-authored the national S3 guidelines on esophageal cancer and colorectal cancer. Prof. Trojan is an advisor of the independent Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG).


Prof. Dr. Imam Waked

Prof. Dr. Waked

National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, Shibin El Kom, Egypt

Imam Waked is Professor of Medicine in the department of Hepatology, past Chair Hepatology and Dean Emeritus of the National Liver Institute in Egypt. Dr Waked graduated Cairo University School of Medicine, joined the National Liver Institute in 1986, obtained a Doctorate degree from Ain Shams University in Cairo in 1992, and trained in the liver unit of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He is a Fellow of the American Association of the Study of Liver Disease (FAASLD), and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) in London.

Dr. Waked has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications in international journals. He currently heads the clinical trial unit in the National Liver Institute. His research has focused on hepatitis C and hepatocellular carcinoma epidemiology and treatment. He is a board member of the Egyptian National Committee for Control of Viral Hepatitis which oversees the National Hepatitis C Treatment and Screening Program and is a member of the technical advisory board of the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination.


Editorial Board

Stephen J. Beebe, Professor, Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA

Srikanta Dash, Professor, Director of Hepatitis Research Laboratory, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA

Aldo Dettino, Professor in Clinical Oncology and Translational Research, Department of Clinical Oncology, A. C. Camargo Cancer Center, Sao Paulo-SP, Brazil.

Dan G. Duda, DMD, PhD, Director of Translational Research in GI Radiation Oncology, Investigator, Edwin L. Steele Laboratories for Tumor Biology, Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Associate Professor of Tumor Biology, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.

Mahmoud El Meteini, Professor, Faculty of Medicine - Ain Shams University, Egypt. 

Tamer El-Baz, Professor, Department of Endemic Medicine and Hepatology, Cairo University Hospital, Egypt.

Prof. Hesham Elghazaly , Professor of Clinical Oncology, Head of Medical Research Center MASRI, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Catherine Frenette, Medical Director of Liver Transplantation, Scripps Center for Organ Transplantation, Director of the Liver and Hepatocellular Cancer Program, Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center, Scripps Green Hospital, La Jolla, CA, USA.

Asmaa Gomaa, MD, Professor, Department of Hepatology, National Liver Institute, Menofia University, Egypt.

Heping Hu, Director and Professor, Department of Heptobiliary Diseases, Eastern Hepatobiliary Hospital, Shanghai, People's Republic of China

Do Young Kim, Associate Professor in Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

PPhilippe Merle, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Hepato-Gastroenterology and Digestive Oncology, and UMR INSERM 1052, Epigenetics and Epigenomics of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (EpiHep), Centre of Research in Cancerology, Lyon University and Croix-Rousse Hospital, Lyon, France.

Dr Ganesh Nagarajan, Consultant Surgeon Hepatobiliary Pancreatic, GI oncology & Liver Transplant, P D Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai, India.

Ashraf Omar, Department of Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

Tushar Patel, Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Jacksonville, FL, USA

Naresh Naik Ramavath, Department of Paediatrics at the Washington University, USA.

Lorenza Rimassa, Associate Professor of Medical Oncology, Director of the Residency Program in Medical Oncology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Head of Hepatopancreatobiliary Oncology, Medical Oncology and Hematology Unit, Humanitas Cancer Center, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan, Italy.

Rodolfo Sacco, Director of Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy Unit, Foggia University Hospital Medical School, Foggia, Italy.

Toshihito Seki, Professor and Director, Liver disease center, Kansai Medical University Medical Center, Osaka, Japan.

Ming Shi, Professor, Department of Hepatobiliary Oncology, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, People's Republic of China

Oliver Stoeltzing, Head Doctor, Zentrum für Allgemein- und Viszeralchirurgie Riesa-Meißen, Elblandkliniken, Meißen, Germany.

Janio Szklaruk, Doctor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA.

Hua Tang, Professor of Molecular Biology & Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, People's Republic of China

Harrys A. Torres, MD, FACP, FIDSA, FAASLD, Professor of Medicine; Founding Director of Hepatitis C Clinic; Medical Director of Internal Medicine Center, Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health; Adjunct Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.

Jia-Sheng Wang, Professor and Head, Department of Environmental Health Science, College of Public Health, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

Chia-Jui Weng received his PhD at Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan. He was the Lead Guest Editor of BioMed Research International and Guest Editor of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (eCAM) Journal. He was the organizing Committee member of 6th International Conference on Nutrition and Physical Activity (NAPA2015) and Chair of session in international conferences.