Meet the Team - Physicians
Medical Oncology / Hematology Physicians
Linnea I. Chap, M.D.
Hematology/Oncology (Women's Oncology)
Clinical Associate Professor - UCLA School of Medicine
Linnea Chap, MD is a highly respected specialist in breast cancer and gynecologic malignancies. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois and graduated Summa Cum Laude with High Honors. She subsequently received her medical degree from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. Dr. Chap completed residency in internal medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and fellowships in both hematology and oncology at the UCLA Medical Center. After her fellowship, she joined the UCLA faculty where she was promoted to Associate Professor of Medicine and was the co-director of the UCLA/Revlon Multidisciplinary Breast Clinic. Dr. Chap has numerous publications to her credit in highly regarded peer review journals. She has been a leader in the treatment and research of breast and gynecological malignancies and has led several breast and ovarian cancer treatment protocols, including the pioneering use of novel biologic agents such as Herceptin and Avastin.
Dr. Chap has received several prestigious awards throughout her career. In 2001, she was named one of "America's Top Breast Cancer Doctors" by Redbook, a national women's magazine. Annually, she is listed as one of "America's Top Doctors for Cancer." Recognized for her teaching and speaking skills, Dr. Chap is frequently called upon to relate the most recent advances in breast cancer treatment. In addition to her active involvement with clinical trials and research, she is well-versed in the areas of risk reduction and genetic testing.
U.S. News Media Group recently announced "U.S. News Top Doctors." A highly respected specialist in breast cancer and gynecologic malignancies, Dr. Linnea Chap is listed in this prestigious directory and considered among the top 1% of doctors in the country. Dr. Chap was also listed in Los Angeles Magazine in January 2012, under the listing for Top Doctors in Los Angeles. She has also been selected to Southern California Super Doctors annually, since 2007.
A. Eli Gabayan, M.D. (Afshin Eli Gabayan, MD)
Hematology/Oncology
Medical Director of Beverly Hills Cancer Center
Clinical Instructor - UCLA School of Medicine
Dedicated to providing the best available therapies to his patients, Dr. A. Eli Gabayan (Afshin Eli Gabayan) has remained avidly involved in multiple cancer research studies and clinical trials throughout a career that began at the prestigious University of Southern California (USC) School of Medicine. Dr. Gabayan completed his internship and residency at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he also served as Chief Resident. He received his Oncology and Hematology training at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he remained as an attending physician in private practice with expertise in the areas of gastrointestinal, lung, breast cancers and multiple myeloma. Dr. Gabayan is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, with a subspecialty in Medical Oncology.
Dr. Eli Gabayan tirelessly strives for the best and most current treatments medical science can offer to his patients and their families. This passion for knowledge and education led to Dr. Gabayan’s post as a clinical instructor at the esteemed David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Firmly committed to the community, Dr. Gabayan maintains strong local ties through his frequent lectures on a wide variety of oncology and hematology topics.
At the heart of Dr. Gabayan’s practice is a passionate advocacy for the advancement of medical research for all cancer patients coupled with a vigilant dedication to making the latest therapy and treatment options available to his own patients. He believes that knowledge is power and communication is essential to good patient care. As the Chief of Medical Oncology at the Beverly Hills Cancer Center, Dr. A. Eli Gabayan has made it a personal goal to deliver compassionate, yet state of the art care in a healing environment.
Steven J. O'Day, M.D.
Hematology/Oncology
Director of Clinical Research, Director of Los Angeles Skin Cancer Institute at Beverly Hills Cancer Center
Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine - USC Keck School of Medicine
Adjunct Faculty - John Wayne Cancer Institute
Steven J. O'Day, MD is a board-certified medical oncologist at Beverly Hills Cancer Center. Dr. O’Day is a graduate of Williams College with a BA in Chemistry. Following college, he studied medical ethics at Oxford University on a visiting scholars program. He returned to the US to attended medical school at Johns Hopkins and completed his medical internship and residency in Internal Medicine on the Osler Service at Hopkins. He completed his fellowship medical oncology at Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard University, including specialized training in hematologic malignancies and bone marrow transplantation. Dr. O’Day also completed a Clinical Effectiveness Program at the Harvard School of Public Health. In 1994, after serving as an Attending Physician at Dana Farber, Dr. O’Day came to Los Angeles to found the Medical Oncology Division of The John Wayne Cancer Institute in partnership with the world-class Surgical Oncology Faculty and melanoma experts of The John Wayne Cancer Institute. More recently, he was a founding member of The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute in Santa Monica, California.
Dr. O’Day is recognized as one of the preeminent melanoma specialists in the world, and combines expert clinical care with teaching and leading clinical research. He lectures extensively, both nationally and internationally. His research has focused for many years on the combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. He has been at the forefront of new drug development in melanoma over the last two decades. His recent research has concentrated on T-cell targeted antibodies, targeted MAPK inhibitors and anti-angiogenesis drugs. Dr. O’Day has been a principal investigator on over 100 clinical trials including several large, international Phase III trials. He has published more than 200 manuscripts, abstracts and reviews in prestigious journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), Blood, Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), Cancer, Lancet Oncology and the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. He serves on the editorial boards and as a reviewer for many prestigious journals including JCO and Clinical Cancer Research. Dr. O’Day has served on the ASCO Education Committee for melanoma. In addition, he has served on the ASCO International Development and Education Award (IDEA) Working Group where he has served as a mentor for an IDEA grant recipient as well as an IDEA grant reviewer.
Over the last two years, Dr. O’Day has made a significant contribution to melanoma treatment and research, playing key roles in the research that led to the FDA approval of two new drugs (ipilimumab, vemurafenib) for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Both drugs have demonstrated an overall survival benefit in large, randomized clinical trials. As a result of this work, Dr. O’Day has been a co-author on three recent New England Journal of Medicine papers. Each of these papers has been honored with presentation at ASCO’s Plenary sessions, at the 2010 and 2011 meetings. Dr. O’Day was a co-first author on the first of these papers (ipilimumab) and gave the 2010 ASCO Plenary oral presentation. This landmark paper represented the first study to demonstrate improvement in overall survival for patients with refractory metastatic melanoma. The second ipilimumab study confirmed this survival benefit as first line therapy in metastatic melanoma and was presented at the 2011 ASCO Plenary session by co-investigator, Dr. Jedd Wolchuk. The third study demonstrated an improvement in survival with a second drug (vemurafenib), a novel BRAF-targeted oral agent for patients with BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma. This third paper was presented by co-investigator Dr. Paul Chapman at the 2011 ASCO Plenary session.
Inspired by the recent significant breakthroughs in the treatment of melanoma, Dr. O’Day’s remains dedicated to patient care, clinical research and drug development in the treatment of melanoma. He is interested in expanding the success of tumor immunology in melanoma more broadly across oncologic tumors. He is confident that strategic combinational approaches based on high quality translational science, rigorous clinical research design and critical biomarker discovery, will lead to significant new advances in oncology in the coming years.
Radiation Oncology Physicians
Ari Gabayan, M.D. (Arash "Ari" Gabayan, MD)
Radiation Oncology
Medical Director of Radiation Oncology and Imaging
Clinical Instructor - UCLA School of Medicine
An advocate for compassionate care who passionately pursues cutting edge research, Dr. Ari Gabayan (Arash "Ari" Gabayan) comes to his patients with extensive medical knowledge. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as a Neuroscience major. After receiving several prestigious awards and academic scholarships as an undergraduate, including the University of California Regents Scholarship, Dr. Gabayan graduated Summa Cum Laude and College Honors, with a B.S. in Neuroscience. Dr. Gabayan went onto pursue his medical degree from UCLA’s renowed David Geffen School of Medicine. He continued his medical training with a medical internship at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and a residency at University of Arizona’s Department of Radiation Oncology, where he held the esteemed position of Chief Resident.
Recognition of Dr. Ari Gabayan’s pursuit and achievement of excellence lead to his selection as Lead Investigator for a national multi-institutional study of the GliaSite Radiotherapy System, a device used in the treatment of malignant brain tumors. Dr. Gabayan’s research studies earned him the prominent Roentgen Research Award.
As the Chief of Radiation Oncology and Imaging at the Beverly Hills Cancer Center, Dr. Ari Gabayan strives to provide his patients with the latest treatment technologies in a soothing and relaxing environment. Dr. Gabayan dedicates himself to the highest standards in all aspects of his career, from the care and treatment of patients to the pursuit of cutting-edge research.
Patricia Gordon, MD
Radiation Oncology
Dr. Gordon is a 1978 graduate of Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology. She went on to receive her degree of Doctor of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1982. She completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Group in 1984 following which she returned to UCLA for her training in Radiation Oncology which she completed in 1987, serving one year as Chief Resident. In 1987 Dr. Gordon achieved Board Certification in Radiation Oncology from the American Board of Radiology. She remained on the UCLA clinical faculty through 2003.
Dr. Gordon enjoys the general practice of Radiation Oncology with a particular passion for breast and prostate cancer management. Over the past 20 years she has devoted a great deal of her life to helping patients with HIVrelated malignancies. She prides herself on having twice completed the 560-mile bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, which is part of the California AIDS Ride.
Founding Director and board Chair of Cure Cervical Cancer, Dr. Gordon is passionate about devoting her time and medical expertise to healthcare projects in developing countries. Dr. Gordon and her colleagues are dedicated to the early detection, treatment and cure of cervical cancer in developing countries worldwide. For additional information on the foundation and upcoming projects, please visit their website: www.curecervicalcancer.org.
Paul Pagnini, MD
Radiation Oncology
Dr. Paul G. Pagnini has served as a leader in community-based and academic radiation oncology for the past 14 years. An expert in Gamma Knife and CyberKnife radiosurgery, prior to joining Beverly Hills Cancer Center he served as an interim chairman for the Department of Radiation Oncology at USC and as the former Medical Director of Radiation Oncology Services at the NCI-Designated USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Pagnini also served as program director for the LAC + USC Radiation Oncology Residency Program, a position which he proudly held for 6 years. Prior to joining USC he was the Medical Director of Radiation Oncology Services at the Saint Bernardine Medical Center, where he was the liaison to the American College of Surgeons, Commission on Cancer. Dr. Pagnini has performed over 800 Gamma Knife and CyberKnife radiosurgical procedures.
Dr. Pagnini completed his residency training in radiation oncology at Tufts/New England Medical Center where he was chief resident in his final year. He was awarded the prestigious Research Fellowship Award from the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology, which enabled him to study the role of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for the treatment of cancers of the central nervous system. He has appeared several times on CBS’ “The Doctors” as a Radiation Expert and Brain Tumor Specialist, as well as, many local and national news segments pertaining to his area of expertise. He has multiple peer reviewed publications in the areas of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), 3-D conformal radiation therapy, Cyberknife, and Gamma-Knife radiosurgery.
His clinical expertise includes brain and spinal cord tumors, orbital and ocular tumors, brain and spine metastases, gastrointestinal tumors (esophageal, gastric, colorectal, and anal cancers), pancreatic cancer, hepatobiliary cancers (liver and bile duct cancers); benign intracranial tumors (meningiomas, pituitary tumors, acoustic neuromas, and arterio-venous malformations), and genitourinary tumors including prostate cancer.
Surgery Physicians
Lindi Vanderwalde, M.D.
Breast Surgery/General Surgery
Diplomate, American Board of Surgery
Lindi Vanderwalde, MD is board certified in general surgery with fellowship training in breast surgery. Dr. Vanderwalde received her BA in Biology at Columbia College in New York City. She earned her medical degree at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Returning to Los Angeles, Dr. Vanderwalde completed her residency in General Surgery at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, a high-volume tertiary referral center. Dr. Vanderwalde is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and is a member of the American Society of Breast Surgeons and the American College of Surgeons.
Recognizing the need for dedicated breast specialists, Dr. Vanderwalde pursued a fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where she specialized in the surgical treatment of diseases of the breast. Dr. Vanderwalde strives to deliver compassionate and comprehensive care to patients with new breast concerns. With her meticulous surgical skill, she obtains cosmetic excellence by utilizing oncoplastic techniques, and offering patients immediate reconstruction with skin sparing and nipple sparing mastectomy when oncologically feasible. Dr. Vanderwalde is excited to be a part of the Beverly Hills Health Center, where patients with breast cancer receive integrated multidisciplinary care from the surgical, radiation, and medical oncology teams.
Jennifer Lang, M.D.
Gynecologic Oncology/Surgery
Jennifer Lang, MD focuses on providing comprehensive individualized care for women with gynecologic and oncologic concerns. Dr. Lang has extensive experience in advanced minimally-invasive surgical techniques including laparoscopy and robotic surgery.
Dr. Lang received her medical education at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where she received the prestigious Dean's Recognition Award for “Holding Promise for the Future of Medicine.” She then completed a four-year residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, winning the Berlex Award for Best Teaching Resident, and elected Administrative Chief Resident for her program.
Dr. Lang was also a visiting Galloway Fellow at Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center, followed by a three-year fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology (Women's Cancer Surgery) at UCLA and Cedars-Sinai Medical Centers in Los Angeles, California. During this training, she had extensive experience in advanced minimally-invasive surgical techniques including laparoscopy and robotic surgery. During her final year of fellowship she was concurrently enrolled in a Doctoral Program in Biomedical Science and Translational Research focusing on the field of ovarian cancer. She was the recipient of the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation's “Program of Excellence Award”, and the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research “Scientific Scholar Award.” Following fellowship, Dr Lang spent three years as Medical Director of “FLOW: Integrative Women’s Wellness Practice,” providing holistic comprehensive individualized care for women with gynecologic and oncologic concerns.
Dr. Lang has moved her practice to Beverly Hills Health Center, where she will continue her dedication to patient care at the Center’s integrative Women’s Oncology Division, alongside renowned specialists in the fields of surgery, hematology/oncology, and radiation oncology.
Radiology Physicians
Peter Foldvary, M.D.
Radiology
Peter Foldvary, M.D. is board certified by the American Board of Radiology and by the American Board of Nuclear Medicine. He received his B.S., M.S., and M.D. degrees from the University of Toronto, and completed his internship at Harbor General Hospital, his residency in diagnostic radiology at UCLA, and his residency in nuclear medicine at UCLA / Wadsworth. He participated in hospital based and outpatient practices in West Los Angeles, then was director of imaging centers in the Long Beach area. He is a member of the Radiological Society of North America, the American Roentgen Ray Society, and the Los Angeles Radiological Society.
Ramona Tabib, M.D.
Radiology
Biography coming soon.
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