Meet our Medical & Professional Advisors

Jaffer A. Ajani, MD, FASCO
Professor of Medicine
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
jajani@mdanderson.org

Jaffer A. Ajani, MD is a tenured professor of medicine and internist at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (UTMDACC). His main interest is in GI Oncology research, particularly focusing on gastric and esophageal cancers. Dr. Ajani is board certified in Family Medicine and Internal Medicine, as well as in Medical Oncology.

Dr. Ajani has a large clinical practice and his own laboratory. He has more than 700 peer-reviewed publications. He has been awarded several DOD and NCI grants since 2007 and was named a Giant of Gastrointestinal Cancers in 2022. He is the Chair of Gastric Cancer and Esophageal Cancer Guidelines of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network for more than 28+ years and served on ODAC of USFDA from 2019-2024. Dr. Ajani has been named Best Doctor of USA since 1991.

Tolga Erim, DO, is the Florida Division Chair of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the Florida Region Director of Endoscopy at the Cleveland Clinic. He holds the Lynda and Marlin Younker Endowed Chair in Developmental Endoscopy.

Dr. Erim’s areas of clinical interests revolve around pioneering and teaching complex endoscopic procedures as well as developing tools and techniques for advanced endoscopic procedures which minimize risk, discomfort, and recovery time for patients. As such, he was part of the first team to perform third space endoscopy/ intramural endoscopic surgery procedures, such as POEM, GPOEM, ZPOEM, STER, in South Florida. He devotes his clinical practice exclusively to referrals for complex endoscopic procedures.

Dr. Craig Lockhart, MD, MHS, FASCO, is a Professor of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). At MUSC, he is the Director of the Division of Hematology & Oncology and Associate Director for Clinical Science at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.

Dr. Lockhart has been conducting early phase clinical trials for over 20 years and his specific research interests are to develop and conduct Phase I/II clinical trials of novel therapeutics applied to gastro- intestinal cancers.

Prior to joining MUSC, Dr. Lockhart was on the faculty and in leadership roles at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis/Siteman Cancer Center, and at Vanderbilt University/ Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

Dr. Laura Sudarsky, MD, FACS, CWSP, is a nationally recognized female plastic surgeon. She is double board-certified in plastic and reconstructive surgery by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and in wound care by the American Board of Wound Management. She received her training at New York University and Yale University School of Medicine.

For 20 years, she practiced in Rockland County New York serving as Chief of Plastic Surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, NY. Throughout her career, Dr. Sudarsky has been at the forefront of her field in breast surgery. She was a pioneer in the minimally scarring TUBA or “belly button” breast augmentation technique. She participated in the FDA trial critical to getting gel implants approved for wide use.

In her role as Chief of Plastic Surgery, she was instrumental in developing a breast cancer team offering the most advanced breast cancer reconstruction. She worked with politicians to make it mandatory for insurance companies to cover reconstructive breast surgery, for which she received a Certificate of Special Recognition by the United States Congress. Dr. Sudarsky was a co-investigator in the FDA trial of air expanders for staged breast reconstruction.

Dr. Sudarsky is the recipient of multiple humanitarian awards for her volunteer work with organizations such as Unicef, Operation Smile, Healing the Children, Acid Survivors Foundation, Susan G Komen Foundation and the American Cancer Society. She was on the medical advisory board of the Susan G Komen Foundation, awarding grant dollars to uninsured New Yorkers. She has travelled extensively in South and Central America and the war-torn regions of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria, treating women and children with birth defects and injuries who otherwise would not have access to health care.

Dr. Sudarsky is the co-founder of ESSE Plastic Surgery in Ft. Lauderdale, and Natural Images in Plastic Surgery in Nyack, NY. She currently maintains privileges in the Broward Health System in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.