Meet some of the pioneering clinicians and researchers advancing focused ultrasound for pancreatic cancer around the world. Their work spans preclinical discovery, technology development, and clinical trials aimed at improving outcomes for patients.
Irving Coy Allen, PhD
Dr. Allen is an immunologist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His research program focuses on tuning the immune response following tumor ablation to optimize therapeutic outcomes. Dr. Allen’s research team has extensive expertise in evaluating the tumor microenvironment, innate immune system signaling, systemic anti-tumor immune responses, and therapeutic assessments following tumor ablation using a variety of modalities, including focused ultrasound and histotripsy. Complementing his immunology training, he also has a strong background in developing novel animal models for both preclinical and clinical studies. He has in-progress projects to create better animal models for pancreatic cancer.
Pejman Ghanouni, MD, PhD
Dr. Ghanouni is a diagnostic radiologist with expertise in body MRI and serves as chief of the MRI Body Division at Stanford University. His research centers on the development of clinical applications of MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound in pancreatic cancer as well as several other applications, including essential tremor, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, prostate cancer, bone metastases, uterine fibroids, soft tissue sarcomas, and desmoid tumors.
Holger Grüll, PhD
Dr. Grüll is a full professor at the radiology department of University Hospital Cologne, where he is now responsible for translational research and the application of MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU). The main areas of his MR-HIFU research are histotripsy, thermal ablation, hyperthermia, and drug delivery in application areas such as pancreatic cancer, sarcoma, and bone disease.
Keaton Jones, BMBS, DPhil, FRCS
Mr. Jones is a hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeon at the University of Oxford. He has been involved with a clinical trial of focused ultrasound ablation of locally advanced pancreatic cancer and runs a laboratory focusing on immunomodulation.
Tatiana Khokhlova, PhD
Dr. Khoklova, who conducts research at the University of Washington, has research interests in ultrasound cavitation–based tumor disruption with particular emphasis on pancreatic cancer and the investigation of resulting systemic effects, including anti-tumor immune response.
Jae Young Lee, MD, PhD
Dr. Lee is a professor in the Department of Radiology at Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Hospital. His research focuses on diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound. Dr. Lee has conducted multiple clinical studies using the combination of focused ultrasound and chemotherapy in patients with pancreatic cancer.
Petros Mouratidis, PhD
Dr. Mouratidis works on the biological effects of focused ultrasound on cancer at The Institute of Cancer Research in London. His most recent focus has been the investigation of the immunological effects of focused ultrasound in in vivo pancreatic cancer models.
Srikanth Reddy, MD, PhD
Mr. Reddy is an attending hepato-pancreatico-biliary and transplant surgeon at Oxford University Hospital. He is the principal investigator of a clinical trial studying focused ultrasound ablation of pancreatic cancer.
Joan Vidal-Jové, MD, PhD
Dr. Vidal-Jové is a surgical oncologist at the Comprehensive Tumor Center in Barcelona and is a research and medical consultant for Histosonics, Inc. He has been involved in developing histotripsy in clinical settings and researching its immune effects and is leading the clinical application of histotripsy in pancreatic tumors. Dr. Vidal-Jové has treated more than 200 patients with focused ultrasound.
Feng Wu, MD, PhD
Prof. Wu, a world-leading HIFU surgeon at the University of Oxford, specializes in several clinical applications of focused ultrasound. He led early clinical trials from 1997 to 2001 in China that focused on treating solid tumors throughout the body, including those of the liver, kidney, breast, pancreas, uterus, bone, and soft tissues.