Northwell Health Cancer Institute names 4 new executives

Northwell Health Cancer Institute has hired four executives focused on cancer care management, research and oncology surgery.

The cancer care arm of New Hyde Park-based Northwell Health has named Dr. Joseph Herman vice chairman of clinical informatics for radiation medicine and director of clinical research integration for the cancer institute.

It named Dr. Martin Karpeh Jr. as director of surgical oncology for Northwell’s eastern region and chairman of the department of surgery at Huntington Hospital.

Also, Catherine Alfano has joined as vice president of cancer care management and research. 

Stacy Sanchez is the institute's new chief nursing officer.

“We are laying the groundwork to create a survivorship program, bolster oncology nursing practice and initiatives, enhance the integration of clinical cancer research and advance surgical oncology,” said Dr. Richard Barakat, physician-in-chief and director of the Northwell Health Cancer Institute and senior vice president of cancer services at Northwell Health.

Barakat added that Northwell plans to build ambulatory cancer centers at Huntington Hospital and its hospital in Forest Hills, Queens.

"We have a lot of expansion plans, and while a lot has been paused because of COVID, cancer care doesn't stop, and neither has our planning," he said. 

As for the new hires, Herman joins Northwell on July 1. He is   professor and division head of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center – a role he has held since 2016. He specializes in the treatment of pancreatic and hepatobiliary malignancies, and he previously initiated and co-directed the Pancreatic Multidisciplinary Clinic at Johns Hopkins University.  

Herman will also lead Northwell's expansion of clinical trials, Barakat said.

Karpeh specializes in the surgical management of gastrointestinal cancers. He will direct programs at Huntington Hospital, Southside Hospital in Bay Shore and Peconic Bay Medical Center. Karpeh joined Northwell at the end of April to help during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was most recently at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, where he was surgeon-in-chief from 2014 to 2019. In addition, he was an attending surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for 11 years.

Alfano, who joined the institute on Monday, will lead and develop a cancer survivorship program for Northwell. It will focus on patients’ long-term health and well-being from initial diagnosis to monitoring patients and coordinating comprehensive care with a goal of optimizing outcomes.

She was previously vice president of survivorship at the American Cancer Society. Alfano was previously deputy director of the National Cancer Institute’s Office of Cancer Survivorship. 

"There are so many cancer survivors because cancer patients live longer and in many cases are cured," Barakat said. "We need to better coordinate their care and get them away from just seeing their oncologists. We need to return them to their other doctors, especially because many of them have co-morbidities." 

Meanwhile, Sanchez, who will oversee operational performance, fiscal strategy and the consistency of nursing practice throughout all the oncology sites at Northwell, begins on June 15. She comes to Northwell after working as director of pediatric and critical care services, and interim director of acute care services at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In these roles, she was responsible for an overall $450 million operating budget and more than 1,800 employees.