Faculty
Featuring National Leaders in Breast Care
Marcela Mazo Canola, MD | Mays Cancer Center at the University of Texas Health System, San Antonio
Dr. Mazo-Canola is an Assistant Professor of Hematology/Oncology and Breast Oncology and Director of Oncology/Hematology at the Mays Cancer Center at the University of Texas Health System San Antonio. She is currently conducting 2 clinical oncology trials, focusing on early detection of malignancies and monitoring patients with breast cancer undergoing endocrine therapy. She has published and presented her previous original research at both national and international oncology congresses and is passionate about working with medically underserved patient populations.
Ana Cristina Sandoval Leon, MD | Miami Cancer Institute
Ana Sandoval Leon, M.D., is a medical oncologist specializing in the treatment of breast cancer. She cares for patients diagnosed with all types and stages of breast cancer, including non-invasive and invasive, recurrent and advanced breast cancers. She has expertise in the most advanced systemic therapies, such as chemotherapy, hormone therapy and targeted therapy. She works closely with each patient and the cancer care team to coordinate treatment across different disciplines and monitor a patient’s overall health and outcomes. Dr. Sandoval Leon has been recognized for her academic and clinical excellence. She serves as an editorial reviewer for Practice Update – Metastatic Breast Cancer. She also publishes articles in her specialty in peer-reviewed medical journals and presents at scientific conferences. Miami Cancer Institute is a member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Alliance.
Katherine Sanchez, MD | New Mexico Cancer Center
Katherine Sanchez is a medical oncologist who specializes in breast cancer at New Mexico Cancer Center. She is a native New Mexican who moved back home in 2022 to serve women in the Albuquerque and Gallup communities.
Dr. Sanchez received her undergraduate degree, attended medical school, and completed a post-sophomore fellowship in pathology at the University of New Mexico and completed her Internal medicine residency at Providence Portland Medical Center in Portland, OR. She completed an immuno-oncology fellowship at Providence Cancer Institute, where she focused on the development of testing to predict response to immunotherapy in early-stage breast cancer, research she continues today. She then completed fellowship in Hematology/Oncology and a breast fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Texas.
At New Mexico Cancer Center she joined a team of female-physicians who treat breast cancer. She is working to bring clinical trials to NM that provide early access to medications. Beyond clinical work she is partnering with local resources to bring care and community into the cancer center and create an environment of support for breast cancer patients.
Cameron Smith, D.O., M.P.H. | Providence Portland Medical Center
Cameron was raised in Shingle Springs, CA and received his undergraduate degree at the University of California, Davis. After graduating, he worked as a medical scribe at multiple oncology clinics, volunteered at a local hospital, and assisted with a disaster relief project in Houston, Texas. He obtained both his medical degree and public health degree at Touro University in Vallejo, CA, and holds interests in oncology, gastroenterology, and treating underserved populations by improving social conditions. Outside of medicine, Cameron loves spending quality time with his loved ones and dog. He also enjoys basketball, hiking, traveling, as well as playing card games and board games in his spare time. Cameron's interests lie in the field of hematology-oncology, and he is currently conducting research projects with the Providence Cancer Center in immunotherapy.
Annette Fontaine, MD | New Mexico Cancer Center
Dr. Fontaine is a native of the Caribbean island of Dominica. She received her medical training at Ross University School of Medicine on the island and then migrated to the United States. She did residency in Internal Medicine followed by fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. In 2006 she joined New Mexico Hematology Oncology Consultants Ltd where she cares for patients with solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Her interest in the business of medicine led her to earn an MBA from the University of Tennessee, subsequently accepting the role of chief medical officer at the cancer center.
She is passionate about making a difference in the lives of patients and her peers hence she volunteers her time on the board of trustees of the Greater Albuquerque Medical Association, a councilor of New Mexico Medical Society, president elect of New Mexico Society of Clinical Oncology and medical director of Dominica Health and Education Initiative. She is board certified in Hematology and Medical Oncology and a member of AMA, ASCO and ASH.
Alexandra Thomas, MD, FACP | Duke Cancer Center
Alexandra Thomas, MD, FACP joined the faculty of the Duke Cancer Institute in 2023. She came from Wake Forest where she had been since 2016 and currently served as the leader of the Breast Cancer Disease Oriented Team and Co-Leader of the Breast Cancer Center of Excellence. In 2022 she was named the inaugural Williams Family Chair in Breast Oncology. She completed her undergraduate degree at Princeton and then studied in Rome and worked in Milan before going on to earn her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She completed residency at Stanford University Hospital and fellowship at the University of Iowa Hospital. While in Iowa, she served on the faculty at the University of Iowa from 2001 to 2016 and attained the rank of Professor in 2015.
Dr. Thomas’ research focuses on bringing promising laboratory work to the clinic to effectively treat patients with breast cancer. Her areas of interest include cardiotoxicity of breast cancer therapeutics, novel approaches for difficult to treat and rare breast cancers, late recurrence and population-based breast cancer research.
She serves on or has served on multiple national committees including the US National Cancer Institute’s Breast Immuno-Oncology Task Force, the ASCO Annual Meeting Planning Committees and the ASCO Government Relations. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the NRG Protocol Operations Management Committee and as a member of the NRG Core Breast Committee. Dr. Thomas remains highly committed to advocating for public support of improved cancer outcomes and was named the 2018 ASCO Advocate of the Year for her work with elected officials.
Nicole Hill, MD | XRANM
Dr. Hill earned her medical degree at the University of California, Irvine. A southern California native, she then stayed on at UC Irvine to complete her General Surgery residency, earning multiple Best Surgery Resident awards during her training. She was a Clinical Fellow in Surgical Oncology at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Following training, she practiced in California for seven years at Kaiser Permanente Fresno, building the medical center’s Breast Surgery Program, and serving as its Cancer Liaison Physician, as well as Assistant Physician in Chief. She has been featured in California local news stories and magazines for her dedication to breast cancer care. She has been a recurring guest speaker for The Central California Women’s Conference.
Dr. Hill fell in love with the beauty and culture of New Mexico, and is honored to serve the breast care needs of the region alongside her partners at Breast Surgery Associates of New Mexico.
Anna Maria DeCosta, MD | Nexus Health
Anna-Maria De Costa, MD, PhD, is a graduate of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, SC. Her PhD is in the field of Microbiology and Immunology, specifically focused on immunotherapy as a part of cancer treatment. She completed a General Surgery intern year at MUSC prior to completing her Radiation Oncology residency at University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI. She is board-certified in Radiation Oncology and previously worked for Pueblo Radiation Oncology in Pueblo, CO, and Centura/ CommonSpirit in Colorado Springs, CO. She cares for patients with various types of cancers, and she has a special interest in treating patients with breast and gynecologic malignancies. She is focused on developing a compassionate, genuine connection with patients while providing thorough and honest information in an accessible manner.
Dr. De Costa enjoys drawing, painting, biking, and soccer. She also likes to camp and hike with her husband, sons, and dog. The family also likes playing video games together, though the dog mainly just watches.
Susan Seedman, MD | Presbyterian Medical Group
Dr. Seedman graduated from the University of Florida College of Medicine. Dr. Susan Seedman, MD is a General Surgeon in Rio Rancho, NM and has 47 years of experience. Dr. Seedman currently practices at and is affiliated with Presbyterian Hospital and CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. Dr. Seedman has experience in treating conditions like Breast Lump and Breast Cancer among other conditions at varying frequencies.
Nan Chen, MD | University of Chicago
Nan Chen, MD is a board-certified hematologist / oncologist who specializes in comprehensive breast cancer care. Dr. Chen’s practice primarily focuses on treating patients with all forms of breast cancer. She has a particular expertise in high-risk breast cancers, including metastatic hormone receptor positive and triple-negative breast cancer. Dr. Chen offers both standard if care (such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and endocrine therapy) and novel therapies through clinical trials to create individualized treatment plans for her patients.
Dr. Chen’s research interests include identifying innovative treatments for both early and advanced breast cancer in addition to identifying new biomarkers to predict response to the therapies. She is very active in clinical research, managing several trials evaluating advanced care for breast cancer. Working closely with laboratory-based researchers at the University of Chicago, Dr. Chen is developing tools that investigate mechanisms of treatment response and resistance. She has been awarded grants to fund her research and has published numerous peer-reviewed papers on breast cancer.
Bernard Tawfik, MD | UNM Health Science Center
Bernard Tawfik, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology Oncology and a board certified, practicing medical oncologist at the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center (UNM CCC). His clinical interest lies in the treatment of solid tumors with a focus on breast cancer and neuroendocrine tumors. His research has focused on the cancer care delivery, quality improvement, and health disparities research. He is actively involved in the conduct of clinical trials, is involved in the Breast Cancer Working Group Protocol Development Committee at UNM CCC and is Vice-Chair for the Data Safety Monitoring Committee.
David Page, MD | Providence Cancer Institute
“In addition to providing compassionate and individualized care for patients with cancer, I wish to improve the quality of that care by dedicating myself to clinical research. I also reflect upon the unique experiences of each of my patients, to learn to best care for that patient and for future patients,” says Dr. Page.
Dr. Page is an associate member of Earle A. Chiles Research Institute (EACRI), a division of Providence Cancer Institute, and a Medical Oncologist at Providence Cancer Institute in Portland, Oregon. He specializes in breast cancer treatment and research. His research objective is to improve the treatment of breast cancer by harnessing the immune system with immunotherapy, while reducing reliance on chemotherapy.
Dr. Page completed his internal medicine and medical oncology training at Columbia University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, and holds dual expertise as a biostatistician, trained at Oregon Health & Science University. He actively contributes as a member of the Alliance and SWOG consortia breast cancer committees and is an elected member of the NCI Breat Cancer Committee Immuno-Oncology Task Force. In addition, he holds leadership roles as Department Chair, Hematology / Oncology at Providence Portland Medical Center and Program Director, Immuno-oncology Research Fellowship at Providence Cancer Institute.
Mentoring has been an essential part of Dr. Page’s career, as he has guided and supported numerous medical students, residents, fellows and junior faculty. Dr. Page leads multiple investigator-initiated immunotherapy trials in breast cancer. Currently, he oversees a multidisciplinary team of pathologists, informatics, statisticians, and students, working together to develop an innovative method for modeling spatial distributions of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in breast cancer. This method may have future applications as a clinical tool to predict therapeutic response.
Sofia Palacio, MD | New Mexico Cancer Center
Dr. Palacio is a board-certified medical hematologist oncologist. She is passionate about helping patients navigate through cancer care and is particularly devoted to caring for breast cancer patients. She completed her Internal Medicine residency and Hematology and Oncology fellowship at University of Miami. Dr. Palacio believes knowledge, experience, communication and shared decision making are all essential to providing excellent care. She is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Oncology. Her research has been presented at various national and international conferences including ASCO, San Antonio Breast Symposium and World Lung. She is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. She is fluent in Spanish and has a diverse background having lived and trained in the US, Spain and Latin America. She is an avid reader and hiker.
Fei Gu, MD | Nexus Health
Dr. Gu received her Doctor of Medicine from Beijing Medical University in Beijing, China. She has a PhD in Biophysics from Purdue University and worked in the biotech/pharmaceutical industry, specializing in computational chemistry/biology, to rationally design oral receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors as cancer drugs. She did her internship in Internal Medicine at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, MA and was a resident in Internal Medicine at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA. Dr. Gu completed a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, MA. She was an attending physician medical oncologist at University of Massachusetts Medical School prior to joining NMCCA in January 2016. Dr. Gu cared for patients at both the Santa Fe and Los Alamos locations. Her hobbies include skiing, hiking, camping, going to concerts and the Santa Fe Opera.
Ursa Brown Glaberman, MD | UNM Health Sciences Center
Dr. Brown Glaberman is an Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico Health Science Center in the Department of Internal Medicine. She is a board-certified Medical Oncologist practicing at the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Brown Glaberman leads the UNM Breast Clinical Working Group and is principle investigator for clinical trials. Her expertise lies in breast cancer, GI cancers, and in cancer care delivery and healthcare disparities.