Pregnancy in Cancer Survivors

Dr Anne Blaes, MD MS is a Professor in Hematology/Oncology at the University of Minnesota where she also serves as the co-director of the Screening, Prevention, Etiology, and Cancer Survivorship (SPECS) Program within the Masonic Cancer Center. 

She is an active hematologist/medical oncologist with a special interest in breast cancer, cardio-oncology and cancer survivorship. She is a past chair of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Cancer Survivorship Committee. She serves on CDC’s Advisory Board for Young Women with Breast Cancer, the Global Cardiooncology Society leadership teams, and the American Heart Association Cardiooncology Council.

Dr Lili Zhang, MD ScM is the Director of Cardio-Oncology Program and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, US. She is a non-invasive cardiologist and a cardiac imaging specialist. Dr Zhang’s clinical focuses include Cardio-Oncology, cardiomyopathy, echocardiography and multimodality cardiac imaging.

Dr Zhang earned her Doctor of Medicine degree at Peking University, China. She then completed her Master of Science in Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She completed her residency in internal medicine and fellowship in cardiology at Montefiore/Einstein. Subsequently, Dr Zhang completed her advanced fellowship in Cardio-Oncology and cardiac imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Dr Zhang’s research focuses on cardiotoxicity of cancer therapy, immune checkpoint inhibitor myocarditis, racial disparities in cardiovascular care and the application of multimodality imaging in cardiovascular disease. She has shared her work through more than 70 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and abstract publications. She received research support from the American Heart Association and NIH to investigate racial and ethnic disparities in Cardio-oncology.

Dr Diana S Wolfe, MD MPH has a dual academic appointment at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in the Bronx, New York. She is both Professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine and
Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology. 

She established the MFM Cardiology Joint Program at Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center in 2015 in response to the rising contribution of cardiovascular related morbidity and mortality in pregnancy. The aim was to establish a multidisciplinary programme to optimise the care of high-risk pregnant patients with known or suspected cardiac disease, as there is a real potential for communication gaps when patients are seen separately in contrast with parallel visits by different specialists. She is the co-editor of the book Cardio Obstetrics. She is a member of the Quality Improvement Initiative to develop the Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health (AIM) Safety Bundle on Cardiac Conditions in Obstetrical Care (CCOC). 

She authored the Change Package for this national Safety Bundle and currently is Co-Chair of ACOG District II Cardiac Bundle Development. She is a faculty member of the largest group of specialists in the field of Cardio Obstetrics, Cardiac Problems in Pregnancy, an International Organisation that now meets annually. She is the Co-Founder of the Post Graduate Course at the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine Titled Cardio Obstetrics where fellows and faculty share their passion, interests, and challenges in Cardio Obstetrics. She is delighted to be a part of this Webinar on Cancer Survivors and pregnancy considerations.

Dr Neha Bansal is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital and Icahn School of Medicine, New York. Her clinical focus is pediatric patients who have heart failure due to cardiomyopathy or congenital heart disease and has a keen interest in cardiac care of survivors of childhood cancer. Dr Bansal’s research focuses are pediatric cardiomyopathy, pediatric cardiac transplants and pediatric cardio-oncology. Her work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, books, manuscripts, and articles. She is a host to the podcast called “In the Flow- Conversations with Pioneers in Pediatric Heart Failure and Transplantation” available for free on all platforms and listened throughout the world. 

Dr Bansal received her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 2011 at Seth G.S Medical College and K.E.M Hospital in Mumbai, India. From 2012 to 2018, she completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in pediatric cardiology at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. She is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. In 2017, Dr Bansal received the Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation and Kyle John Rymiszewski Foundation Research Scholar Award. She is an active member of various international organisations like ICOS and ISHLT as well as serves on the pediatric committee of UNOS (United Network Organ Sharing). 

Dr Dan Lenihan is a cardio-oncologist specialising in cardiology, heart disease and advanced heart failure, at Saint Francis Healthcare System, Cape Girardeau, US.

He is a co-Founder and Board Member of the International Cardio-Oncology Society (ICOS), which is an international professional association whose primary goal is to eliminate cardiac disease as a barrier to effective cancer therapy. 

He is actively involved in patient care as the Director of the Cardio-Oncology Programme, Cardiac Rehabilitation, and the Heart Failure clinic at Saint Francis Healthcare System.

Dr Joe Carver is the Bernard Fishman Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, US. He is the Chief of Staff at the Abramson Cancer Center.

He is the Director of the Thalheimer Cardio-oncology Center at the Abramson Cancer Center and his clinical practice is in the subspecialty of cardio-oncology.