Interventional Oncology : A Multidisciplinary Approach to Image-Guided Cancer Therapy

Yuman Fong

City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA

Dr. Yuman Fong is Chairman of Surgery at the City of Hope Medical Center.

He is known clinically for his extensive workin the field of liver and pancreatic surgery―especially for pioneering many laparoscopic, robotic, and ablative therapies for hepatobiliary cancers. He is best known for work that helped prove liver resection to be potentially curative for stage IV colorectal liver metastases. For his clinical accomplishments, he was awarded the Layton F. Rikkers Master Clinician Award from the Society of Surgery for the Alimentary Tract.

He has also been active in biologic bench investigation. He was part of the group that discovered tumor necrosis factor and helped establish the field of innate immunity. His laboratory focus over the last 25 years has been in the field of gene therapy, designing and studying the use of genetically modified viruses and immune cells for the killing of cancer. His group was the first to administer recombinant viruses into the blood stream of man as a cancer treatment. His leadership in this field has included serving as the Chair of the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) of the National Institutes of Health. His work in engineering has led to his election to the American Institute of Medical and Biologic Engineering.

He has co-authored over 1000 articles and 20 textbooks, which have been cited over 100,000 times. He has served on the editorial boards of 28 journals, and was founding Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Therapy Oncology (Cell Press, official journal of the ASGCT). 

He has also been awarded the Stanley Dudrick Award from the American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, the Shipley Award from the Southern Surgical Association, and the Flance-Karl Award from the American Surgical Association.He has been elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and the National Academy of Medicine.

In his free time, he enjoys skiing, music, and ballroom dancing.

Anne Covey

Interventional Radiology Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

Anne Covey, MD, FSIR, is an Attending Radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and Professor of Radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University,followed by her Doctor of Medicine from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She subsequently completed her internship, diagnostic radiology residency, and fellowship in interventional radiology at Yale New Haven Hospital.

She is a recognized authority in interventional oncology, with expertise in locoregional therapies for primary hepatic malignancies and in complex biliary interventions. She is a Fellow of the Society of Interventional Radiology and has held numerous leadership roles within national professional societies. Her prior service includes membership on the hepatobiliary panel of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and Section Editor for the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR). She has served as a Trustee of the American Board of Radiology (ABR) since 2017, and in 2024 was elected to the Board of Directors of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), where she serves as Liaison for Public Information, Professionalism, and Sustainability.

She has published over 125 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 50 book chapters and review articles, and 2 textbooks.

Jonathan Kessler

Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Chief, Division of Interventional Radiology, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California, USA

Dr. Jonathan Kessler is Associate Clinical Professor and Chief of the Division of Interventional Radiology at City of Hope National Medical Center, where he has practiced since 2012. Board certified in both diagnostic and interventional radiology, he specializes in minimally invasive, image-guided therapies for cancer. His clinical expertise includes embolization and ablation for tumors of the liver, lung, kidney, and bone, as well as advanced procedures to alleviate cancer-related pain, such as vertebral augmentation, bone tumor ablation, and nerve ablation.

He received his B.A. summa cum laude from Yeshiva University and his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. He completed his residency in diagnostic radiology and fellowship in vascular and interventional radiology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

He has served on several national and institutional committees such as the Society of Interventional Oncology Education Committee and the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association Research Committee. An active researcher, he has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and abstracts on interventional oncology, liver-directed therapies, and multidisciplinary cancer care. He is a frequent lecturer and invited speaker at national and international meetings, with presentations spanning hepatobiliary malignancies, neuroendocrine tumors, and liver-directed therapies.

David A. Iannitti

Sr. Chief, Division of Hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) Surgery, Atrium Health, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.

Professor of Surgery, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

David A. Iannitti is Chief of the Division of HPB Surgery at Atrium Health and Professor of Surgery at the Wake Forest School of Medicine.

He received his medical degree through the Dartmouth–Brown Program in Medicine and completed his general surgery residency at Brown University. He went on to complete a fellowship in liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.

He began his academic career in 1997 at Brown University, where he co-developed one of the earliest radiofrequency ablation programs in collaboration with Dr. Damian Dupuy. His work helped establish liver tumor ablation as a viable clinical therapy, initially with radiofrequency and later with microwave ablation

technologies. In 2006, he joined Carolinas Medical Center (Atrium Health) in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he founded the Division of HPB Surgery and served as ProgramDirector of an AHPBA-accredited HPB Surgery Fellowship.

Internationally recognized for his expertise in minimally invasive HPB surgery and surgical tumor ablation, Dr. Iannitti has been a leader in the development, refinement, and education of novel ablative technologies. He has played a central role in the evolution of microwave ablation and irreversible electroporation (IRE), and co-led research into the next-generation highfrequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE) technology through an NIH R01 grant. He also pioneered the development of advanced image guidance systems and holds multiple patents related to surgical innovation.

He has served in leadership positions across numerous professional societies, including the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (AHPBA), the International Laparoscopic Liver Society (ILLS), the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), and the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO). He has received more than 70 research grants, including NIH funding, authored over 250 peerreviewed publications and 24 book chapters, and delivered more than 500 scientific presentations and 450 invited lectures worldwide. He serves as international teaching faculty of Institut de Recherche contre les Cancers de l’Appareil Digestif (IRCAD).

Widely regarded as a global thought leader and educator in minimally invasive approaches to liver and pancreas surgery, Dr. Iannitti has significantly advanced the field of surgical oncology through his pioneering work in surgical ablation and image-guided interventions as well as surgical education.

Damian E. Dupuy

Director of Tumor Ablation, Department of Radiology, Cape Cod Healthcare, Hyannis, MA, USA

Adjunct Professor, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

Damian E. Dupuy, MD, FACR, is a pioneering force in the realm of diagnostic imaging and interventional oncology, specifically imageguided tumor ablation. He currently is an Adjunct Professor at Brown University and is Director of Tumor Ablation at Cape Cod Hospital. With a remarkable career spanning three decades, he has consistently demonstrated his expertise in clinical research, medical devices, radiology, and oncology.