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ALLISON W. KURIAN, M.D., M.Sc., is a Professor of Medicine and of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University. She is Associate Chief of the Division of Oncology, Director of the Stanford Women’s Clinical Cancer Genetics Program, and Co-Leader of the Stanford Cancer Institute Population Sciences Program. Dr. Kurian’s research is designed to understand cancer burden and improve cancer treatment quality at the population level, with a focus on identifying women with elevated breast and gynecologic cancer risk, and on the development and evaluation of novel techniques for early cancer detection and risk reduction. She leads epidemiologic studies of cancer risk factors, clinical trials of novel approaches to cancer risk reduction, and decision analyses of strategies to improve cancer outcomes. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, California Breast Cancer Research Program, Komen for the Cure Foundation, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and others. Dr. Kurian’s work has been honored by Impact Awards of the National Consortium of Breast Centers and the BRCA Foundation, selection as a Komen Scholar and election to the American Society of Clinical Investigation. Dr. Kurian also contributes her extensive expertise to the City of Hope Clinical Cancer Genomics Community of Practice as a distinguished faculty member.

Lisa Madlensky, PhD, is a board-certified genetic counselor who provides cancer risk assessment and genetic counseling for patients and their families. She helps people investigate their family health history, navigate the genetic testing process, and understand and adapt to the medical or psychological implications of genetic diseases.

As director of the Family Cancer Genetics Program at Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health, Dr. Madlensky helps ensure that patients and families with an increased risk of cancer receive outstanding care, with a focus on cancer prevention and early detection.

In addition to her clinical activities, Dr. Madlensky is a researcher at Moores Cancer Center. Her work centers on cancer prevention in those at increased risk of disease because of their family history or genetic predisposition. Her research themes include clinical genetic testing and follow-up for families with Lynch Syndrome and BRCA1/2 mutations; the public health implications of cancer genetic testing; quality of life in those at increased risk of cancer; the integration of cancer risk assessment into family practice; and family-level cancer prevention.

Dr. Madlensky earned her doctoral degree from the University of Toronto Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. She obtained a Master of Science in genetic counseling from McGill University in Montreal Canada.

Julie Culver, MS, CGC, CCRP is Director of Cancer Genetic Counseling and Assistant Professor at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. She received her Master’s degree at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1994. Ms. Culver then worked on research pertaining to breast cancer risk assessment and the public health impact of BRCA testing at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research in Seattle for almost a decade. In 2004, she joined the City of Hope Division of Clinical Cancer Genetics where she worked for 8 years and served as the Assistant Director of the Cancer Screening & Prevention Program Network. She continued her research pertaining to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer and decision-making for woman carrying deleterious BRCA mutations and variants of uncertain significance. In 2012, she moved to the USC Norris Cancer Comprehensive Cancer Center where she currently serves on the faculty of Medical Oncology and is the lead genetic counselor. Her research pertains to high risk screening for breast cancer, cancer risk perception, and medical decision-making following genetic testing. She has served on the faculty for the City of Hope Intensive Course and taught cancer risk assessment to health professionals and students since 2004.

Joanne Jeter, MD, MS (she/her) is a board-certified medical oncologist and clinical cancer geneticist.  She started working at City of Hope on October 16, 2023, and is very excited about joining many of her friends in this prestigious group. 

Her medical school training was at the University of Texas-Houston Health Sciences Center.  She subsequently completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.  While she was in her Medical Oncology fellowship program at the University of Michigan, she was fortunate to start working with Dr. Stephen Gruber's clinical cancer genetics program, and this has been her primary focus since that time.  She has also earned a Master's degree in Clinical Trials Design and Statistical Analysis at the University of Michigan. 

Prior to her time at City of Hope, she was the Medical Director for the Family Cancer Assessment Clinic at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah.  She has also worked as a medical oncologist and clinical cancer geneticist at the University of Arizona and the Ohio State University. 

Bita Nehoray, MS, CGC, is a licensed board-certified genetic counselor specializing in cancer genetics. She received her Master’s degree in Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling from Stanford University. Ms. Nehoray joined the City of Hope Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics in 2012, where she provides cancer genetics services for patients and families suspected to have a hereditary predisposition to cancer, with a focus in Li-Fraumeni syndrome and clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential. Current research projects include understanding cancer risk, penetrance, prevalence, and clinical outcomes for individuals with TP53 pathogenic variants as part of the LiFT UP study, evaluating the use of whole body MRI and liquid biopsy for early cancer detection, chatbot use for disclosure of germline genetic test results, and assessing community-based provider experiences with TP53 results on germline testing. She also serves on the genetic counseling advisory committee for the Li-Fraumeni Syndrome Association, the ClinGen TP53 Variant Curation Expert Panel, and the California Advisory Council for Sharsheret. She is faculty for the City of Hope Intensive Course in Genetic Cancer Risk Assessment. She is an active member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors and Southern California Genetic Counselors.

SUSAN SHEHAYEB, MS, CGC,  is a licensed board-certified genetic counselor specializing in cancer genetics. She has a Master’s of Science degree in genetic counseling from University of California Irvine. Previous to completing her master’s degree, Ms. Shehayeb earned her bachelor’s degree in molecular, cell and developmental biology from University of California Los Angeles. Ms. Shehayeb joined the City of Hope Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics in 2017, having previously undergone clinical training at City of Hope. She is fluent in Arabic and is in the process of achieving fluency in Spanish.

Ms. Shehayeb's clinical role has centered on widening patient access to genetic counseling and testing throughout the City of Hope clinical network and on genetics representation and expertise in the setting of gynecologic oncology. She co-leads the curriculum development for educational initiatives within the City of Hope Clinical Division of Cancer Genomics. Her research work and special interests focus on hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, hereditary genodermatoses, precision medicine in hereditary cancer care, and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) in cancer genetics training. She is a member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors and the Southern California Genetic Counselors.