Moffitt Cancer Center Welcomes New Faculty Members

June 15, 2009

Tampa, FL– The staff at Moffitt Cancer Center announces the addition of 13 new physicians.

Drs. Eric Outwater and Bulent Arslan are joining the diagnostic imaging department. Outwater got his medical degree at the University of California. He was a resident in radiology and a fellow in body MRI. Arslan attended the University of Virginia, where he was an assistant professor of radiology. His specialty is interventional radiology, and his research efforts include local and regional tumor therapy using novel interventional radiology techniques.

Dr. Shirley Codada joins the Moffitt team in the Psychosocial and Palliative Care Program. She is board certified in hospice and palliative medicine and consults inpatient and outpatient.

Mary Pinder-Schenck and Miguel Alvelo-Rivera are new additions to the thoracic oncology department. Pinder-Schenck’s clinical research is aimed at bringing novel agents and combinations into the clinic for patients with thoracic malignancies. She is also interested in uncovering clinical and molecular data which will allow clinicians to better tailor therapies to individual patients and tumors. Alvelo-Rivera specializes in minimally invasive lung surgery and lung resections. He also specializes in minimally invasive surgery for esophageal cancer, performing more than 300 minimally invasive esophagectomies during his tenure at the University of Pittsburgh and co-authoring the largest series of minimally invasive esophagectomies for cancer worldwide. Alvelo-Rivera is interested in biological therapies for cancer, palliative procedures for advanced cancer and early lung detection and screening.

Dr. John Tourtelot joins the Moffitt team in the endocrine program. He received his medical degree from the University of Miami and completed post-graduate training at the Naval Hospital. His specialties include diabetes, metabolism, endocrinology and internal medicine.

Dr. Jennifer Giglia is the newest addition to the gastrointestinal oncology department. She received her master’s degree and completed an internal medicine residency at the University of South Florida. She did a fellowship in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Dr. Ravi Shridhar’s clinical and research focus is in GI malignancies, and he is joining the department of radiation oncology. He recently completed a residency in radiation oncology at the Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University.

Drs. Masoumeh Ghayouri and Timothy McCardle join the department of anatomic pathology after both recently completing fellowships at USF. McCardle completed a dermatopathology fellowship after doing a pathology residency and surgical pathology fellowship at the Washington University/Barnes Jewish Hospital. Ghayouri completed an oncologic surgical pathology fellowship in addition to finishing a pathology residency.

Dr. Elizabeth Sagatys, a new addition to the department of hematopathology and lab medicine, comes from USF after receiving her master’s degree in 2003. She completed an anatomic and clinical pathology residency, and an oncologic surgical pathology and hematopathology fellowship at Moffitt. Her clinical research interests involve immune recognition and the T cell response to lymphoma.

Dr. Jennifer Cultrera will be involved in the treatment of patients with lymphomas, as her research interests focus in clinical trials and translational studies for patients with aggressive lymphomas. Cultrera will work in the department of malignant hematology. She recently completed a fellowship in medical oncology and hematology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and a Master of Science in patient-based research from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Dr. Amod Sarnaik recently completed a surgical oncology fellowship at USF. He joins the department of cutaneous oncology as a surgical oncologist with a major commitment of research effort to the Donald A. Adam Comprehensive Melanoma Research Center.

About H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute

Located in Tampa, Florida, Moffitt Cancer Center is an NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center - a designation that recognizes Moffitt’s excellence in research and contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Moffitt currently has 15 affiliates in Florida, one in Georgia and two in Puerto Rico. Additionally, Moffitt is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a prestigious alliance of the country’s leading cancer centers, and is listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” for cancer. Moffitt’s sole mission is to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer.

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