Endocrine Oncology Branch
Mission
The mission of the Endocrine Oncology Branch is to provide outstanding clinical care for patients with endocrine tumors and to direct research efforts to the development of innovative diagnostic approaches and treatment of endocrine cancers, including thyroid, adrenal, pancreatic, neuroendocrine, and parathyroid cancers. A significant number of patients undergo surgical intervention for benign endocrine tumors to exclude a cancer diagnosis; as such, cancers often cannot be diagnosed by routine clinical, laboratory, and imaging studies. Endocrine malignancies are one of the fastest-growing cancer diagnoses in the United States, and there are limited effective treatments for patients with metastatic disease. Investigators at NIH have made numerous seminal contributions to the surgical management of endocrine tumors over the past 30 years, and many of the clinical characteristics and susceptibility genes for familial cancer syndromes have also been described by NIH investigators.
Overview
The Endocrine Oncology Branch is comprised of researchers who have a specialized training and interest in endocrine malignancies. The branch incorporates the major functions of clinical research, clinical care, and clinical training in pursuit of treating patients with endocrine cancers. The Endocrine Oncology Branch routinely handles referrals from medical centers across the United States and overseas, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Digestive, Diabetes and Kidney Disease (NIDDK), and National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD). All patients are enrolled on NIH clinical protocols, and all care is provided at no cost in the Clinical Research Center on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.
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Research Team
Electron Kebebew, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Branch Chief
Endocrine Oncology Branch, NCI
Dr. Kebebew received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in chemical engineering. He completed his medical training, surgical residency, and NCI T32 Surgical Oncology Basic Science fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Kebebew joined the surgical faculty at the University of California, San Francisco, in 2002. In 2009, Dr. Kebebew was recruited as the head of the Endocrine Oncology Section in the Surgery Branch. In 2012, he became chief of the newly established Endocrine Oncology Branch, NCI.
Dr. Kebebew has published more than 200 articles, chapters, and textbooks, and he serves on the editorial board and as a reviewer for more than 25 biomedical journals. He has received awards from the American Cancer Society, American Association for Cancer Research, American Thyroid Association, American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, and International Association of Endocrine Surgeons.
Ann W. Gramza, M.D.
Staff Clinician
Endocrine Oncology Branch, NCI
Dr. Gramza received her M.D. from The Ohio State University in 2000. She completed clinical training in internal medicine and palliative care at the University of New Mexico in 2004 and fellowships in hematology and oncology at Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU) in 2007. Upon completion of her fellowship training, she was appointed to assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at OHSU and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where her translational laboratory research focused on the molecular genetics of thyroid malignancies, in particular as targets for therapeutic agents. She joined the Medical Oncology Branch, NCI in 2010 to continue her pursuit of translational clinical research studies of new therapeutics for patients with thyroid malignancies. In 2012, she joined the Endocrine Oncology Branch, NCI.
Naris Nilubol, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Staff Clinician
Endocrine Oncology Branch, NCI
Dr. Nilubol completed his general surgery residency training and a research fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City in 2005. He completed his endocrine oncology surgery fellowship at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Dr. Nilubol was on faculty at Mount Sinai Medical Center before being recruited to NCI.
Research Staff
Krisana Gesuwan, M.S.N, C.R.N.P.
Research Nurse Specialist
Endocrine Oncology Branch, NCI
Krisana Gesuwan completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania and her Master of Science in Nursing at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. She has worked as a nurse in surgical post-operative care at Johns Hopkins Hospital and as a nurse practitioner at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. In 2010, she joined the National Cancer Institute.
Jean Ward, R.N., B.S.N., O.C.N.
Research Nurse Specialist
Endocrine Oncology Branch, NCI
Jean Ward completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Maryland and obtained her oncology nurse certification. She has worked at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in medical surgical oncology for more than 10 years She has also worked in private practice and has taught in the public school system. She joined NIH in 2007 as a clinical manager. In 2010, she became a research nurse specialist with NCI and joined the Endocrine Oncology Branch, NCI in 2012.
Neelam Gulati
Clinical Data Manager
Endocrine Oncology Branch, NCI
Neelam Gulati completed her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration at the University of Maryland. She joined NCI as a clinical data manager in 2004 and worked with the Medical Oncology Branch. She joined the Endocrine Oncology Section of the Surgery Branch in 2009.
Erinn Hopkins
Clinical Research Coordinator
Endocrine Oncology Branch, NCI
Erinn Hopkins completed her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and her Master of Science in Human Resource Development at McDaniel College. Before arriving at the Endocrine Oncology Branch, NCI in 2012, Erinn served as the executive assistant to the Chief of the Infrastructure Management Division, for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts in Washington, D.C.
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