Current Gynecologic Oncology Fellows

3rd-year – Nikki Neubauer, MD

Nikki graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in 2001 and then received her MD from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 2005. She did her OB GYN residency at Duke University Medical Center from 2005 – 2009. 

Nikki’s basic science projects involved an analysis of gene expression in normal endometrium vs. endometrioid endometrial cancer and also the role of progestins and AKT inhibition in endometrioid endometrial cancer.  A portion of this work was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in 2010 and is currently being readied for submission for publication.  She has already published two articles on the management of preoperative grade 1 and stage I grade 3 endometrial carcinoma. Her current clinical projects are reoperations for ovarian cancer, hCG regression as a predictor of complete response to initial chemotherapy in low-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia, and anal intraepithelial neoplasia.

2nd-year – Alok Pant, MD

Alok graduated with honors from Dartmouth College in 2000 and then received his MD from University of Illinois at Chicago School of Medicine in 2006.  He did his OB GYN residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital from 2006 – 2010. 

Alok’s basic science project involves elucidating progesterone receptor function in the context of a hyperactive AKT signaling pathway due to PTEN mutations which are prevalent in endometrial cancer.  He currently has articles in press in the Journal of Chemotherapy and the Journal of Gynecologic Surgery, and he has made two poster presentations at the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.

1st-year – Mario Pineda, MD

Mario graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Francisco in 1997 and then went on to the University of       Washington School of Medicine where obtained his MD as well as a PhD in molecular and cellular biology in 2007.  He did his OBGYN residency at  University of Southern California from 2007 – 2011. 

Mario’s basic science project is investigating the role of endometrial stroma in sensitizing endometrial cancer to progesterone.  He already has 5   published peer-reviewed scientific publications as well as 2 book chapters in press.

Recent Gynecologic Oncology Fellow Graduates

2008 – Emily Berry, MD

Emily was the first graduate of the fellowship program at Northwestern.  Emily graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of North Carolina in 1996 and then worked in an Episcopal Urban Intern Program in Los Angeles, California for one year prior to attending medical school at the Oregon Health Sciences University.  She completed her residency in OB GYN at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2005.  From 2008 to 2011, Dr. Berry was a gynecologic oncology attending with an academic appointment as Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Oregon Health and Science University.

Emily accomplished a lot during her fellowship at Northwestern.  She received the 2007 Compassionate Care Award for housestaff from the Woman’s Board of Northwestern Memorial Hospital as a result of her patient care skills and collegial attitude.  Emily had oral presentations at the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists Annual Meeting, the Western Association of Gynecologic Oncologists, the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists Winter Meeting, and the World Congress on Gestational Trophoblastic Diseases.  Emily’s basic science project was on induction of apoptosis in endometrial cancer cells.  She will have at least 7 publications as a result of her fellowship activities.  Emily was also selected as Vice-Chair of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists Fellow-in-Training Network, which included the responsibility for organizing the Fellows Seminar at the Annual Meeting for two years and publishing the FIT Newsletter.

Anna received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1996 and then obtained an MPH from the University of Illinois in 1998 prior to graduating from Rush Medical College in 2002.  She completed her OB GYN residency at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in 2006.  After completing her fellowship in 2009, she went back to her hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan where she is an Assistant Professor on the clinical faculty of Michigan State University at the Western Michigan Cancer Center.

During her fellowship, Anna had 11 first-author presentations at national and international meetings, and she published 14 articles, on 10 of which she was first author. Her basic science research involved targeting the P13K/AKT/FOXO pathway in endometrial cancer. Her clinical research was in endometrial cancer, trophoblastic disease, and robotic surgery.