Blue Faery Medical Advisory Board
Dr. Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa is an associate professor of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. Dr. Abou-Alfa specializes in the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies and in particular, Hepatocellular Carcinoma and biliary cancers. Dr. Abou-Alfa received his medical degree from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and completed his post-doctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine. His research is dedicated to finding novel therapies and improving the effectiveness of current therapies for Hepatocellular Carcinoma and biliary cancers while continuing to understand the basic mechanisms of the diseases and their therapies.
Dr. Abou-Alfa serves as the chair of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Task Force for Hepatobiliary Cancers and the chair of the AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC) Non-AIDS Defining Malignancies (NADC) Liver/GI Task Force. Dr. Abou-Alfa also chairs the Hepatocellular Carcinoma subgroup of the Alliance cooperative group and is a cadre member of both the gastrointestinal cancers and pharmacogenomics and population pharmacology committees.
Dr. Abou-Alfa, who has lectured worldwide on the subject of gastrointestinal malignancies, is also a strong advocate for raising awareness and support for improving the outcome of patients with this disease as well as enhancing oncologic education worldwide.
Dr. Ghassan Abou-Alfa, Chair
Medical Advisory Board Members
Hepatologist
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Dr. Amit Singal is a Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern and Medical Director of its Liver Tumor Program. An expert in hepatocellular carcinoma, he holds the Willis C. Maddrey, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Liver Disease. He completed medical school and hepatology training at the University of Michigan and residency at the University of Washington. His NIH-funded research focuses on liver cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and lectures globally. Dr. Singal has received multiple awards for his work, including the Blue Faery Award for Excellence in Liver Cancer Research.
Researcher
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Dr. Mark Feitelson earned his B.S. in biology from UC Irvine and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from UCLA. He began hepatitis B research at Stanford and later worked with Nobel laureate Dr. Baruch Blumberg at Fox Chase Cancer Center. He joined Temple University in 2007, where he is now a Professor of Biology. His research focuses on hepatitis B, liver cancer, and microbiome-based therapies. He has over 150 publications, 11 patents, and has mentored 130+ students. Dr. Feitelson also serves as CSO of SFA Therapeutics, currently in clinical trials for inflammation-based diseases and cancer.
Physician Assistant
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Doug Senecal began his career as a physician assistant in gastroenterology before specializing in liver care. He completed a Transplant Hepatology Fellowship at the University of Florida, where he built a successful multi-disciplinary liver cancer program, leading to his recruitment by the Mayo Clinic. Later, he joined Bayer, where he now works in Hepatobiliary Oncology, supporting HCC patient care and improving screening and outcomes. Doug has helped multiple academic centers develop liver cancer programs. Passionate about early detection and comprehensive care, he supports Blue Faery to advance HCC treatment. He lives in coastal Florida with his wife and three children.
Oncologist
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Dr. Pasche is President and CEO of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Chair of Oncology at Wayne State University. Formerly Director of the Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, he led its NCI designation and chaired Cancer Biology. He identified TGFBR1*6A, a low-penetrance tumor susceptibility allele, and co-developed an FDA-approved device using amplitude-modulated radiofrequency for advanced liver cancer. A native of Switzerland, he holds medical and Ph.D. degrees from the Karolinska Institute and the University of Lausanne. He trained at Harvard, Cornell, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in internal medicine, oncology, and cancer research.