Our Doctors

Radiation Oncologists are physicians who specialize in treating cancer and other diseases with radiation therapy. After medical school, Radiation Oncologists spend at least one year receiving additional clinical training in general medicine or surgery and then another 4 years in a Radiation Oncology residency program focusing solely on the care of cancer patients. Board-Certification in Radiation Oncology is granted by the American College of Radiology after a physician passes comprehensive written and oral examinations in medical physics, radiobiology, and clinical radiation medicine. All of the Radiation Oncologists at ROCA received training at major university medical centers. All patients receiving radiation therapy at ROCA centers have a primary radiation oncologist who works with the patient and the patients other physicians to optimize a treatment plan.

Banner Desert Medical Center

Thomas J. Taylor, MD

Thomas J. Taylor, MD

    Dr. Taylor joined ROCA in 2001. Dr. Taylor is currently the Medical Director of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, AZ and has held that position since 1983. Prior to his arrival in Mesa, he was a tenured faculty member at the University of Oklahoma for ten years. Dr. Taylor is a member of the American Medical Association (AMA), American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO), Arizona State Medical Association and Maricopa County Medical Society. He earned his medical degree at the University of Oregon Medical School, completing an internship at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ. He completed his residency in Therapeutic Radiology at the University of Oklahoma Medical School and is Board Certified in Therapeutic Radiology. He has been named a "Top Doctor" by PHOENIX Magazine. Top Docs

Sandra S. Zaky, MD

Sandra S. Zaky, MD

    Dr. Zaky joined ROCA in 2010. She received her Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering at Marquette University, in Milwaukee, WI. She received a Master’s of Science in Immunology at Albany Medical College in Albany, NY. Her thesis focused on a novel treatment for hormone- receptor positive breast cancer. Dr. Zaky went on to receive her medical degree at Albany Medical College in 2005. She completed her residency in Radiation Oncology at Emory University, in Atlanta, GA. She has had extensive training in pediatrics, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), stereotactic (body and brain) radiotherapy, and brachytherapy. She has been asked to speak at multiple national meetings regarding her research on triple negative breast cancer. Her interests include breast cancer, pediatric oncology, and cancer survivorship programs. Dr. Zaky is board eligible in Therapeutic Radiology by the American Board of Radiology.

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Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center and
The Phoenix Cyberknife & Radiation Oncology Center

Thomas B. Daniels, MD

Thomas B. Daniels, MD

    Dr. Daniels joined ROCA in 2008. Dr. Daniels completed his residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he also served as Chief Resident. He earned his MD at Rush University Medical College in Chicago, IL. Dr. Daniels has contributed to numerous studies in clinical radiation oncology and is trained and experienced in the treatment of a variety of cancers. Dr. Daniels has experience in advanced treatment techniques including stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for lung, liver, and paraspinal tumors as well as frame-based and frameless stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for intracranial tumors.  In addition, Dr. Daniels has extensive experience treating early-stage cancer patients with accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) using the SAVI, Contura, and Mammosite brachytherapy catheters.  Dr. Daniels is also on staff Phoenix Children’s Hospital.  Dr. Daniels is a member of the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the Children’s Oncology Group, and the Pediatric Radiation Oncology Society. He is serves on the Medical Advisory Board of Radion, Inc., a Radiation Oncology Informatics Corporation. Dr. Daniels is Board Certified in Radiation Oncology by the American Board of Radiology.

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John J. Kresl, MD

John J. Kresl, MD, PhD, FACRO

    Dr. Kresl is a nationally recognized expert in stereotactic radiosurgery. He is an editor of the textbook "Robotic Radiosurgery", serves on the board of the Cyberknife Society, and has published extensively on radiosurgery. He is an one of the leaders of an international trial comparing CyberKnife radiosurgery to traditional open surgery for operable lung cancer. He is currently the Medical Director of the Phoenix Cyberknife and Radiation Oncology Center and of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center. He joined ROCA in 1998 and served as Co-medical Director of the CyberKnife™ Program and Assistant Director for the Center for Thoracic Disease at St. Joseph's Hospital & Medical Center and Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona until 2008. Dr. Kresl is the current chairman of American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) Workforce Committee and Executive Board Member of the CyberKnife™ Society. Dr. Kresl completed advanced medical educational and research training in the field of oncology as one of five National Institute of Health (NIH) supported combined MD/PhD Fellow in Graduate Medical Science training in Molecular and Immunological Tumor Cell Biology, culminating in a PhD from Northwestern University Graduate School, Evanston, Illinois. In addition, he received his MD from Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Kresl‚Äôs post-graduate medical education training included a rotating internship in medicine and surgery at the Marshfield Clinic/St. Joseph's Hospital, Marshfield, Wisconsin. During his post-graduate medical education specialty training, he completed a comprehensive Radiation Oncology training program at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Kresl completed advanced Clinical Radiation Oncology training in the field of Brachytherapy at the Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway, and GammaKnife™ Stereotactic Radiosurgery and CyberKnife™ Stereotactic Radiosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Kresl is Board Certified by the American Board of Radiology in Radiation Oncology. In addition to remaining active in oncology research, which has led to two registered U.S. patents for novel methods of diagnosing and treating cancer and further development by Immtech Inc. (a biotech company he co-founded), Dr. Kresl maintains an active clinical practice in radiation oncology for all tumor sites. He has an academic interest in and has developed additional expertise with stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic body radiotherapy in the areas of brain/central nervous system, gastrointestinal, head and neck, and lung malignancies. Dr. Kresl serves as the principal investigator and co-investigator on clinical protocol investigations and has published over 100 abstracts, manuscripts, book chapters and textbooks related to the field of radiation oncology. Dr. Kresl is editor/editorial reviewer for Robotic Radiosurgery, Skull Base Surgery: An Interdisciplinary Approach, International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, and Journal of American College of Radiology. He is frequently an invited lecturer at seminars throughout the world. Dr. Kresl actively participates in national, regional and institutional Clinical Oncology Treatment Protocols that offer the newest and most advanced forms of treatment for tumors of all disease sites. Dr. Kresl has developed experience with and utilizes advanced modalities including intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), image guided radiotherapy (IGRT), Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), CyberKnife™ and Novalis TX™ stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), interstitial and intracavitary brachytherapy, and radioimmunotherapy for cancer patient care in addition to standard external beam radiation therapy. A distinguished fellow of the American College of Cancer Specialists, he is included in the Best Doctors in America 2011-2012 and was nambed among "America's Top Oncologists 2010" by the Counsumer's Research Council of America.

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Devin J. Sloan, MD

Devin J. Sloan, MD

    Dr. Sloan joined ROCA in 2011. He received his Bachelor’s of Science in Marine Biology and his medical doctorate at the University of Southern California. He completed an intership in General Surgery at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Medical Center in New York City and served his residency in Radiation Oncology at both the University of Southern California and the University of Arizona. He has had extensive training in intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), stereotactic (body and brain) radiosurgery, and brachytherapy. He is Board Certified in Radiation Oncology. He is a 2nd Degree Black Belt, a former Forward for the USC Hockey Team and is a Master SCUBA Diver.

Lauren D. Stegman, MD, PhD

Lauren D. Stegman, MD, PhD

    Dr. Stegman joined ROCA in 2007 after completing his residency at the world-renowned Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Dr. Stegman earned his combined MD and PhD degrees from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he studied cancer gene therapy and molecular imaging. Dr. Stegman has published numerous articles in both the basic sciences and clinical radiation oncology, and is experienced in brachytherapy and IMRT for gynecologic, genitourinary, gastrointestinal, head and neck, thoracic, brain, and breast cancers. He also has significant experience with stereotactic body radiosurgery for paraspinal, lung, and liver tumors. He holds a patent for web-based peer-review of scientific and medical journal articles, serves on the Medical Advisory Boards of Radion Global , a Radiation Oncology Informatics Corporation, and of Doximity, a social media site for medical professionals. He is a reviewer for the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, and Physics and is Board Certified in Radiation Oncology by the American Board of Radiology. He has been named a "Top Doctor" by PHOENIX Magazine and Phoenix Woman Magazine.

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    Avvo - Rate your Doctor. Get Free Health Advice. Phoenix Magazine Top Doc 2011Phoenix Magazine Top Doc 2009

 

Banner Thunderbird Medical Center

Kurt A. Wharton, MD

Kurt A. Wharton, MD

    Dr. Wharton joined ROCA in 2010 and is based at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center and the Virginia Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare-Shea. He received his medical degree from the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State Univeristy in 2005. He completed advanced training in Radiation Oncology at the University of Arizona Cancer Center where he served as the Chief Resident. He also received special training in prostate seed implants at the world-renonwned Seattle Prostate Institute. He has published papers in the medical literature about the treatment of a breast cancer, prostate cancer, and stereotactic radiation therapy for spine tumors. Dr. Wharton is Board Certified in Radiation Oncology by the American Board of Radiology.

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