Cedars-Sinai Cancer is continuing to expand its robust clinical and investigative research staff with the addition of several new faculty scientists who bring a breadth of expertise to cancer patients.

This is an exciting and transformational period of growth for Cedars-Sinai Cancer, ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 7 Best Hospital in cancer in the nation.

“I am very grateful to the institutional leadership that our efforts to expand the breadth and depth of Cedars-Sinai Cancer faculty have continued unabated, despite the current challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dan Theodorescu, MD, PhD, director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer. "These exceptional clinicians and scientists will continue to build on our foundation as a leading cancer research and clinical center.”

Physicians and researchers joining Cedars-Sinai Cancer's Division of Medical Oncology:

Alexander Boiko, PhD: Boiko’s research focuses on the cellular and molecular origins of human melanoma. He comes from the University of California, Irvine. Boiko will work with the translational melanoma team at Cedars-Sinai Cancer at The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute.

Leigh Ellis, PhD: Ellis’ work explores the underlying genetic and epigenetic mechanisms concerning the progression of castrate-resistant prostate cancer. He also specializes in oncologic pathology and molecular and cellular biology. He currently serves as assistant professor in Pathology at Harvard Medical School.

Sergei Grivennikov, PhD: Grivennikov’s research examines the connection of various immune signaling pathways with the pathogenesis of inflammation-associated and sporadic cancers. He comes from the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, where he currently is an associate professor in the Cancer Prevention and Control Program.

Ekaterina Koltsova, PhD: Koltsova’s research studies the role of cytokines in the regulation of intestinal microbiota and inflammation in cancer and cardiovascular disease. She currently is an associate professor in the Blood Cell Development and Function Program at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. She will join both Cedars-Sinai Cancer at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute and the Department of Cardiology.

Xue Sean Li, PhD: Li’s research investigates gender disparities in bladder cancer as well as benign urologic diseases, such as urinary tract infection, and bladder urothelial regeneration. He currently is an associate professor of Surgery at the Boston Children’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School.

Arsen Osipov, MD: Osipov will provide clinical care to GI oncology patients and will focus his research efforts on translational pancreatic cancer studies to help advance progress in prevention and treatment. Osipov previously served as a chief medical oncology fellow and clinical translational investigator at the Johns Hopkins Cancer Center.

The following joined the research faculty of both the Division of Medical Oncology and the Cancer Research Center for Health Equity at Cedars-Sinai:

Toby Datta, PhD: Datta’s work focuses on the social determinants and inequalities across the field of cancer prevention and examines individual- and macro-level determinants of cancer-related behaviors, stage at diagnosis, and survival. Datta previously was an associate professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine in the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal.

Gillian Gresham, PhD: Gresham’s research interests combine cancer outcomes research, clinical trials and wearable technology. She joined Cedars-Sinai Cancer at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute in January. She was a visiting postdoctoral scholar in biostatistics at Cedars-Sinai while concurrently a postdoctoral fellow at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Cedars-Sinai Cancer also helped recruit the following physicians:

Philip Chang, DO, will join the Division of General Internal Medicine and Cedars-Sinai Cancer Patient and Family Support Services, providing patient care across multiple practice locations. Chang currently is a cancer fellow and clinical lecturer at the University of Michigan. He will provide quality-of-life and cancer survivorship services for patients to improve their overall health and well-being.

Kenneth Kim, MD, has dual roles, as division director for Gynecologic Oncology and chair of the Committee for Oversight of Training and Education (COTE) at Cedars-Sinai Cancer. Kim was director of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.