Santa Monica Team

Dr. Sidharth Anand is a medical oncologist and hematologist who practices in Santa Monica and Westlake Village. He is a generalist with a specialized interest in gastrointestinal cancers, including colorectal, pancreatic and gastric cancers. He also has an interest in the application of integrative oncology, which means approaching cancer care with traditional therapies, such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy, along with evidence-based integrative methods, including nutrition and exercise, while working closely with the Simms/Mann – UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology.

Dr. Garon received his MD degree from the Washington University School of Medicine in 1999, and his internal medicine training at the University of Chicago. He trained in Medical Oncology at UCLA, and joined the UCLA faculty in 2006. He also received a Masters’ Degree in clinical investigation at UCLA. In 2008, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology and in 2014 he was promoted to Associate Professor of Medicine. Dr. Garon has been awarded Diana Gordon Jonnson Award for Clinical Excellence in 2015. In addition to his clinical work, he also has an extensive focus in clinical and translational research. He has led studies that have led to FDA approvals of two drugs and a companion diagnostic test. He has received multiple foundations grants in addition to NIH grants, including an NIH/NCI K23 award in 2011 and a NIH/NCI R01 in 2017.

Dr. Hecht is a Professor of Clinical Medicine in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA School of Medicine. He holds the Carol and Saul Rosenzweig Chair for Cancer Therapies Development and is the Director of the UCLA Gastrointestinal Oncology Program. Dr. Hecht attended medical school at Eastern Virginia Medical School. He took his internal medicine residency at Northwestern and completed fellowships in gastroenterology research at the University of Chicago, and in gastroenterology and medical oncology at UCLA. Dr. Hecht is an internationally known clinical and translational researcher in the field of gastrointestinal cancers. He has published widely on the molecular biology, early detection, and treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies. He has lead and is currently directing small trials with new molecules as well as large international randomized trials. Current ongoing research includes preclinical models of therapy with biological agents, early studies with gene therapy vectors and tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and leading phase II and phase III trials with novel agents.

Dr. Monica Mead specializes in malignant hematology with a particular focus on B and T cell lymphomas, leukemia and stem cell transplant. She participates in numerous clinical trials for patients with lymphoma.

Lee Rosen, MD, FACP is Health Sciences Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine. He has a longstanding interest in the treatment of pancreas and other gastrointestinal malignancies, specifically in the area of new drug development. Dr. Rosen completed his residency and fellowship in hematology/oncology at the UCLA School of Medicine in 1996, joining the full-time faculty immediately thereafter. He created and directed the Cancer Therapy Development Program, designed to coordinate translational/clinical research of new cancer treatments. Some of the first drugs he and his team worked with were designed for gastrointestinal cancers, so he and colleagues created a group dedicated to treating these diseases in a coordinated fashion. He also became interested in so-called "targeted" therapy, whereby cancers could be attacked by agents with a more rational drug design and the avoidance of toxicity to normal cells. He has worked with angiogenesis inhibitors since their first appearance in the clinic and other molecules inhibiting signal transduction, others that try to harness the immune system to control cancer and still others that work by rational drug design.

Dr. Sara Hurvitz is a medical oncologist who practices in the Santa Monica Parkside office, which houses UCLA Health’s integrative breast cancer practice and high-risk breast cancer clinic. She specializes in the treatment of women with breast cancer, and is involved in designing, implementing and leading national and international clinical trials to test new targeted therapies. She is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.

Dr. Nicholas McAndrew is a hematologist oncologist who practices in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. His primary clinical and research interests are in breast cancer. He is board certified in internal medicine and board eligible in medical oncology and hematology.

Dr. Parvin Peddi received her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and her medical degree from the Duke University School of Medicine. She spent a year conducting research at the NIH as a Howard Hughes Scholar before completing her internal medicine training at Washington University in St. Louis, where she served as chief resident. She went on to pursue her hematology/oncology training at Washington University and at UCLA.

Dennis J. Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., serves as director of Clinical/Translational Research, and as director of the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program at JCCC. He is a professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and executive vice chair for research for UCLA's Department of Medicine. Slamon also serves as director of the medical advisory board for the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance, a fund-raising organization that promotes advances in colorectal cancer.