City of Hope welcomed 12 new physicians at a reception Jan. 21 at the Visitor Center. Alexandra Levine, M.D., chief medical officer, emphasized their extensive research experience, record of publications and collegiality. Faculty members who joined City of Hope’s staff in 2008 and early 2009 included these physicians:

• New physicians flanking Chief Medical Officer Alexandra Levine prepare to cut a celebratory cake. (Photo by p.cunningham)

  Joseph Alvarnas, M.D., director of quality systems for cellular therapeutics in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. He was formerly a transplant physician in the City of Hope-Banner Bone Marrow Transplant Program in Phoenix.
• Saro Armenian, D.O., M.P.H., assistant professor in the departments of Population Sciences and Pediatrics and medical director of the Childhood Cancer Survivorship Program’s Pediatric Survivorship Clinic. He was trained in general pediatrics and pediatric hematology/oncology at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
• Robert W. Chen, M.D., staff physician and clinical assistant professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. He completed a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at the University of Colorado, Denver Health Sciences Center.
• Andres L. Deluna, M.D., hospitalist in the Division of Respiratory Diseases. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Stanford University Medical Center.
• Ernest S. Han, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor and staff physician in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology. He completed his fellowship in gynecologic oncology at University of California, Irvine, where he became clinical instructor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
• Rahul Jandial, M.D., Ph.D., section head of the spine program in the Division of Neurosurgery. He was previously chief resident in neurosurgery at University of California, San Diego (UCSD), was a Dean’s Scholar at the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California (USC) and is a prolific author in books and peerreviewed journals.
• Laura L. Kruper, M.D., assistant professor and surgeon in the Division of General Oncologic Surgery. She previously completed a breast oncology fellowship at John Wayne Cancer Institute.
• Raynald K. Samoa, M.D., assistant clinical professor in the Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism. He previously completed his fellowship at Childrens Hospital and USC University Hospital.
• Maria Santander, M.D., director of hospitalists in the Division of Respiratory Diseases. She most recently served as a hospitalist at Norten Downtown Hospital in Louisville, Ky.
• Jay R. Thomas, M.D., Ph.D., Arthur M. Coppola Family Chair in Supportive Care Medicine and chair and associate professor in the Department of Supportive Care Medicine. He joined City of Hope from UCSD, where he was associate clinical professor of medicine and clinical medical director of San Diego Hospice and Palliative Care.
• John H. Yim, M.D., associate professor and surgeon in the Division of General Oncologic Surgery. He specializes in breast and endocrine tumors and most recently was at the University of Pittsburgh; he completed his surgical research fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine.