Welcome to the Division of Surgical Oncology

Faculty members in the Department of Surgery’s Division of Surgical Oncology are teachers at the VCU School of Medicine and physicians and researchers at VCU Health. Our surgical oncologists are integrated in and contribute to the clinical care, education and training programs, and basic, translational and clinical research activities of VCU Massey Cancer Center, Richmond’s only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center.

Patient Care

Our surgical oncologists are board certified and have expertise and experience that distinguishes them as leaders in the diagnosis and treatment of tumors. They use cutting-edge techniques and the latest technologies to offer the most advanced procedures.

Visit the VCU Health website to learn more about the surgical procedures we offer and the locations of our clinics.

Our surgeons work in multidisciplinary teams at VCU Massey Cancer Center to treat the following disease types:

• Breast cancer and benign breast conditions
• Colon and rectal cancer
• Endocrine tumors, including thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal
• Gastrointestinal cancers and benign GI conditions, including stomach, esophageal and liver cancers
• Pancreatic and biliary neoplasms
• Sarcomas
• Skin cancer, including melanoma

For patient appointments, please call (804) 628-3111

Clinical Expertise

Faculty members in our division are research members at VCU Massey Cancer Center and are engaged in basic, translational and clinical cancer research. They are collaborating with laboratory and social and behavioral researchers to investigate new and better treatment options and explore ways to improve the patient care experience. They serve as principal investigators of clinical trials for gastrointestinal cancers, melanoma, breast cancer and immunotherapy. They also conduct basic and translational research on breast cancer biology and immunotherapy.

• Harry Bear helped Massey Cancer Center pioneer neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer. Neoadjuvant therapy, which involves pre-operative chemotherapy, hormonal therapy or radiation therapy to shrink tumors before surgery, may improve surgical outcomes or allow patients who were not candidates for surgery to become eligible. He also developed a phase 2 clinical trial at Massey based on his laboratory research that is testing the benefits of adding an experimental immunotherapy combination before standard chemotherapy and surgery for breast cancer patients.
  
  
• Leopoldo Fernandez is leading one of only two hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) programs in the state of Virginia and is currently studying the outcomes of this therapy on the treatment of advanced abdominal cancers.
  
  
• Amelia Grover was the first in the region to perform robotic thyroidectomies, a thyroid surgery assisted by a robot that is minimally invasive and has a quicker recovery time. She also chairs the American College of Surgeons Committee on Diversity Issues, addressing disparities in health care and the workforce.
  
  
• Brian Kaplan was part of the first team in the world to implant an internal radiation device known as CivaSheet^® to treat early-stage pancreatic cancer.
  
  
• Raphael Louie recently completed a NIH T32 training grant in geriatric oncology at UNC where he was working with mentors in medical oncology, geriatrics and public health to implement patient reported outcome measures to improve perioperative risk assessment in the geriatric surgical oncology population. His current research combines surgical oncology and public health interests to innovatively address disparities and to improve cancer care for geriatric population.
  
  
• Kandace McGuire was the first in the region to use a new, FDA-approved device named Magseed™ that guides surgeons in locating and removing breast tumors and is a simpler, more effective alternative to traditional wire localization methods.
  
  
• Giao Phan is leading the first cell-based immunotherapy trial at Massey Cancer Center to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of an adoptive cell-transfer therapy for patients with metastatic melanoma.
  
  
• Jose Trevino has expertise in liver, bile duct and pancreas surgery. He also conducts research with specific interests in pancreatic cancer. He currently holds multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Florida Department of Health that support his work examining pancreatic cancer biology and tumor microenvironment, cancer cachexia, novel therapeutics and how it relates to pancreatic cancer health equity. His most recent groundbreaking study on ethnic subgroups and pancreatic cancer outcomes, published in the journal Cancer Medicine, is one of the first to examine the connection between the disease and ancestral racial diversity among Black and Latinx populations.

Research at Massey Cancer Center

Advanced Practice Providers

Patricia Bragg, FNP
Casey Howell, FNP
Anna K Nizinski, ANP

Contact Us

Jose G. Trevino, MD, FACS
Chair, Division of Surgical Oncology
jose.trevino@vcuhealth.org

Biliana Ivanova, MBA
Associate Administrator
biliana.ivanova@vcuhealth.org
804-827-1035

Demetria Patterson
Division Supervisor
demetria.patterson@vcuhealth.org
(804) 828-9322

Office Location
West Hospital
4th Floor, South Wing

Mailing Address 
Box 980011
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0011

Phone: (804) 628–2322
Fax: (804) 828-4808
For patient appointments, please call (804) 628-3111