Nationally Recognized Lung Cancer Expert

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

I am a board-certified radiation oncologist with substantial clinical, academic, research, and leadership experience in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, with particular expertise in lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies. I currently serve as Professor and Chief of Thoracic Oncology in the UCLA Department of Radiation Oncology and am the Endowed Chair in Thoracic Radiation Oncology Research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. I also serve as a Staff Physician and Co-Director of the VA Greater Los Angeles Lung Precision Oncology Program, where I lead major initiatives focused on early detection, multidisciplinary care, precision oncology, and evidence-based treatment for lung cancer. My work has contributed to national lung cancer programs and has helped inform broader efforts to expand access to lung cancer screening and high-quality cancer care across the country. My background in public health, surgery, and radiation oncology qualifies me to provide informed opinions on lung cancer causation, failures in early detection, delayed or missed cancer diagnoses, prognosis, and the appropriateness of diagnostic evaluation, treatment selection, and post-treatment surveillance. I have more than 20 years of experience reviewing medical legal cases and supporting both plaintiff and defense attorneys. I have been involved in matters concerning clinicians, healthcare systems, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, chemical manufacturers, energy companies, and the federal government. I have also served as a leading expert in several class action cases, supporting both plaintiff and defense attorneys. I also have experience assessing causation due to toxic exposures, complications due to unnecessary or negligent care, and assessing whether alleged delays or treatment decisions were likely to have affected a plaintiff’s survival probability. I have held leadership and advisory roles with major national organizations, including the American Cancer Society, American Society for Radiation Oncology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, LUNGevity Foundation, GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer, Lung Cancer Foundation of America, NRG Oncology Lung Committee, American Board of Radiology, American College of Radiology, and the Veterans Health Administration. I have served on journal editorial boards and reviewed for leading medical and oncology journals, including JAMA Oncology, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Journal of Thoracic Oncology, CHEST, Lung Cancer, Cancer, Practical Radiation Oncology, and the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. I remain actively involved in national and international collaborations and am frequently invited to lecture as a keynote speaker at major medical conferences worldwide on lung cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, multidisciplinary decision-making, and evolving standards of lung cancer care. I am also regularly interviewed by media outlets, including The New York Times, on issues related to lung cancer screening, early detection, access to care, and gaps in lung cancer treatment.