Four new physicians join practice’s world-class care team, enhancing access to advanced cancer care throughout Northern Virginia
Fairfax, Va. (Dec. 15, 2015) — Virginia Cancer Specialists (VCS), Virginia’s premier cancer care center with 40 years of service to patients battling cancer and blood diseases and a practice in The US Oncology Network, is pleased to announce the addition of four new physicians to the practice. Daniel G. Chong. M.D., Alina M. Huang, M.D., and Timothy A. McCarthy, M.D., are medical oncologists and hematologists, while Felasfa M. Wodajo, M.D., is a musculoskeletal tumor surgeon. With the addition of these new physicians, VCS can better meet the growing demand for its services throughout Northern Virginia as well as provide advanced care to patients with tumors and sarcomas of the bones, muscles and connective tissues, rare conditions that require highly specialized treatment.
“We are very excited to welcome these skilled cancer specialists to our practice,” said Gregory Orloff, M.D., practice president, Virginia Cancer Specialists. “Not only are we adding new expertise, enhanced services and fresh ideas in the areas of medical oncology and hematology, we are also expanding our service offerings to include treatment for musculoskeletal tumors and sarcomas, providing patients with these extremely rare conditions the opportunity to receive excellent care in a convenient, community-based setting.”
The addition of Dr. Wodajo will allow Virginia Cancer Specialists to serve the medical community as a regional resource for musculoskeletal tumors and sarcomas, which are uncommon and often misdiagnosed. Dr. Wodajo focuses exclusively on benign and malignant tumors of the bones, muscles and connective tissues in both adults and children. He has developed a reputation for excellence in diagnosis and surgical outcomes for these rare conditions, and he has more than ten years of dedicated experience in the highly specialized field of musculoskeletal tumor surgery. Dr. Wodajo received a B.S. degree in Biology from Princeton University, followed by a medical degree from University of California, San Francisco. He then completed an internship in General Surgery at George Washington University and a residency in Orthopedic Surgery at Howard University Hospital. His fellowship in Orthopedic Oncology was completed at the Washington Cancer Institute at Washington Hospital Center. Dr. Wodajo is board-certified in Orthopedic Surgery and has been consistently recognized as a Top Doctor in both the Washingtonian and Northern Virginia Magazine.
“High-quality, well-coordinated integrated care is extremely important to obtain successful outcomes when treating these rare musculoskeletal conditions,” said Dr. Wodajo. “Joining Virginia Cancer Specialists allows me to collaborate with some of the most highly-skilled oncologic specialists in our region while providing patients convenient access to the full spectrum of cutting-edge treatments and clinical trials.”
With the addition of the three new medical oncologists/hematologists, VCS now has 31 physicians serving patients across its 9 locations. Dr. Huang, one of the new physicians, graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and then earned her medical degree from University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She went on to complete her residency and internship in Internal Medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University affiliated with Rhode Island Hospital. She completed her Medical Oncology/Hematology fellowship there as well, serving as a Teaching Fellow. Dr. Huang is a member of the American Society of Hematology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Dr. McCarthy, another of the new physicians, graduated from Rutgers University with a B.S. in Materials Engineering. He then earned his medical degree and completed an Internal Medicine residency at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. McCarthy completed his fellowship in Medical Oncology/Hematology at University of North Carolina Hospitals. He is a published author and has presented posters at various medical events, including the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary symposium. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and is a member of the American Society of Hematology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
The third new medical oncologist to join VCS, Dr. Chong, comes to the practice after serving as Chief Fellow in the Medical Oncology/Hematology Fellowship program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. While there, he was also a Clinical Research Fellow at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. He holds a B.S. degree in Biochemistry from the University of Virginia and a medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He completed his residency and internship at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University, where he served as Chief Medical Resident. Dr. Chong is a member of the American Society of Hematology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
“Virginia Cancer Specialists is committed to enhancing and expanding its services in response to patient and community needs,” said Linda Anderson, executive director of VCS. “By adding these knowledgeable, highly-skilled physicians to our practice, we can continue to offer patients timely access to high-quality advanced cancer care, which is extremely important to newly diagnosed patients. With the addition of Dr. Wodajo, a highly respected leader in his field, we can also provide convenient comprehensive services for patients with musculoskeletal tumors and sarcomas, as well as serve as a regional resource center for these rare conditions,” she concluded.
About Virginia Cancer Specialists
For over 40 years, Virginia Cancer Specialists has contributed to the campaign against cancer and diseases of the blood. VCS has 9 locations throughout Northern Virginia staffed by highly-skilled physicians, each delivering exceptional care. The practice has built a world-class treatment team of cancer specialists, as well as acquiring the very latest treatment technology to help achieve the best outcomes for patients. VCS unites medical, radiation, and orthopedic oncologists, hematologists, oncology nurse navigators, oncology infusion nurses, radiation therapists, genetic counselors, oncology pharmacists and laboratory technicians, all working together as a team to design the optimal multidisciplinary treatment program, efficiently sharing knowledge, executing the treatment plan, and providing a patient-centered, consumer-friendly approach to cancer care. Patients receive the full spectrum of high-quality care necessary to treat their disease from a care team united in their effort to provide each patient with the specific personalized care they need to battle cancer.
Virginia Cancer Specialists has a well-established, comprehensive clinical research program, and it is the only fully staffed cancer center committed to research in Northern Virginia. The practice has access to hundreds of innovative clinical trials through its affiliation with The US Oncology Network, one of the nation’s largest associations of community-based oncologists and a leader in the advancement of cancer research and treatment. The US Oncology Network conducts clinical research through US Oncology Research, one of the nation’s largest community-based cancer research networks which has played a role in more than 50 FDA approved cancer therapies, nearly one third of all cancer therapies approved by the FDA to date. US Oncology Research manages about 300 active trials at any given time, and VCS participates in many of them, testing new leading-edge drugs or various combinations of treatments for cancer and blood disorders. To learn more about Virginia Cancer Specialists, please visit www.VirginiaCancerSpecialists.com.