Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program

• To provide hematologic consultation and primary hematologic care to inpatients and outpatients of all departments Los Angeles General Medical Center, USC/Norris Cancer Hospital, and USC/University Hospital
• To provide continuing care for all adult outpatients with serious hematologic problems through the operation of the adult Hematology Clinics at Los Angeles General Medical Center.
• To operate an 18-bed hematology ward and a Day Hospital for patients with hematologic disorders at the Los Angeles General Medical Center.
• To operate a clinical service coagulation laboratory for the work-up of inpatients and outpatients with suspected hemorrhagic or thrombotic disorders.
• To provide autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplantation services for the patients referred to USC/Norris Cancer Hospital.

• Graduate teaching
• To teach the hematology course in the first year (five weeks) of the Medical School.
• To provide a 6-week clinical elective period for third and fourth year medical students, during which they work with residents and Fellows on the hematology consultation service, attend clinics and attend the conferences and rounds of the section.
• House staff, Fellows and other post-graduate teaching.

The research interests of the Hematology Section are diverse. They includes basic and clinical research in hemostatic mechanisms and their alterations in disease, sickle cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies, malignant lymphoma and other hematologic neoplasms, and hematologic disorders associated with AIDS. Research programs are carried out in various laboratories:

• The hematology research laboratory that occupies an entire floor of the Raulston Research Building on the Medical School Campus.
• The clinical coagulation research laboratory that is located in the USC/Norris Cancer Hospital. This laboratory is used for training in clinical coagulation techniques.
• A Bone Marrow Transplantation/Hematopoiesis Laboratory at the Norris Cancer Hospital.
• An Angiogenesis Disease Laboratory at the Norris Cancer Hospital.
• A laboratory, located at the Norris Research Tower, focused on the epigenetics of cancer, studying demethylation as a means of treating various hematologic malignancies.
• Several Hematology collaborating laboratories are also studying the relationship between viral infections and lymphoma – including HCV, HIV, HHV8, HTLV I, and others.

Jacob Thomas, MD
Kristopher Wentzel, MD

Grace Chang, MD
Irene Kang, MD
Charlene Lee, MD
James Shen, MD
Derrick Su, MD
Steven Yu, MD

Victoria Forte, MD
Gino In, MD
Byron Jennings, MD
Swati Sikaria, MD
Christina To, MD
Kelly Yap, MD

Fellows graduating from Hematology/Oncology training programs are known for their solid clinical knowledge and ability to successfully embark on careers in the fields of both hematology and oncology from the moment of graduation. Our fellows have progressed on to academic positions as well as clinical practice in Southern California and throughout the United States.

Fellows within both the dedicated as well as combined training programs are encouraged to participate in clinical as well as laboratory-based translational research. Over the past 5 years fellows have routinely presented abstracts at several major annual conferences, including the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and have published multiple papers in peer-reviewed journals. Fellows receive training in writing clinical trials and most have become principal investigators on various protocols.

Weekly seminars involving one specialized faculty member and all fellows. Pertinent literature on a weekly topic is discussed in depth, at the fellow level.

Formal Hematology Grand Rounds is held weekly, with with invited speakers from all over the world, who discuss various topics in benign and malignant hematology.. Each fellow is responsible for serving as chief discussant at one Grand Rounds per year.

At this weekly conference, hematology fellows provide a brief clinical review of the patient’s problem, which is then followed by a display of the patient’s morphologic material, scans, and radiographs. Further diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations are then discussed by the multidisciplinary team. The fellow is responsible for providing an overview of the literature concerning the case under discussion.

This multidisciplinary weekly conference includes all of the departments and divisions involved in the care of patients with various types of cancer. This is a mandatory conference for all combined Hematology-Oncology fellows.

Two one-hour didactic seminars are held each week. The topics are regularly assigned to faculty during the first six months of the year. However, during the second half of the year, the fellow is expected to select four topics for presentation. The purpose of these sessions is to present common hematological subjects in a more didactic but informal atmosphere. The preparation for and presentation at this session is a superb training experience since the fellow must organize his/her own thoughts on each subject. The fellows performance is evaluated by faculty, who also attend these seminars.

During daily rounds, faculty and the fellow and ward team go over all cases on ward 14-600 at Los Angeles General Medical Center or inpatients at USC/Norris Cancer Hospital. The purpose of these sessions is to teach clinical malignant hematology at the bedside and microscope, with a small group in an informal atmosphere, while allowing provision of optimal patient care.

Patients with general hematologic problems are seen on the various wards of the Los Angeles General Medical Center, or the University Hospital, and their morphologic material is reviewed. The cases are selected for faculty by the fellows either because they present difficult clinical decisions or because of their clinical teaching value.

While hematology fellows routinely examine peripheral blood smears, bone marrow aspirates and biopsies, and tissue biopsies and cytology during their clinical services, this is a formal weekly conference for fellows, led by Dr. Russell Brynes, Director of Hematopathology. Fellows obtain intensive teaching on the approach to diagnosis using a variety of modalities, including histology, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, and cytogenetics.