Scientific Advisory Board

Ravi Patel, MD, is a board-certified medical oncologist. He has done his MBBS from Government Medical College, India, and residency in internal medicine from the University of Illinois (affiliated to Ravenswood hospital). He completed his fellowship in Hematology/Oncology from Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University alongside a combined affiliated program from the Foster G. McGaw hospital. The fellowship program included bone marrow transplantation training and a combined Hematology/Oncology program.

Dr. Patel founded Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Center (CBCC) that grew from a 1200 square feet office to a comprehensive, community-focused diagnostic, educational, and research-based cancer center. Dr. Patel planned to affiliate CBCC with the UCLA School of Medicine. Working with the UCLA research consortium, UCLA employees managed clinical trials alongside the center’s research staff. Several treatments that were tested at CBCC were profoundly successful and have been submitted to the Federal Government’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval. These breakthrough treatments have made it possible to manage and cure many forms of cancer globally.

For the last 30 years, Dr. Patel has been actively caring for his patients and has been serving as principal investigator in many clinical research trials at CBCC. He is globally involved with the leading pharmaceutical manufacturers and academic research programs to ensure that cancer patients in Kern County have access to the most cutting-edge medicines and treatments available across the world.

Dr Chirag Jyotiker Desai has achieved his MBBS, MD, DM (Oncology) from Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, India. Currently, he is the Consultant Medical Oncologist and Founder Director, Hemato-oncology Clinic at Vedanta Institute of Medical Sciences. Here he is involved in activities including Clinical care of the cancer patients, Clinical research activities and Educational activities.

Under Clinical Care, he is recognized as a KOL by the oncology fraternity and the industry. He has worked closely with a team comprised of surgical and radiation oncologists, radiology and pathology colleagues and other specialists as required as well as involved in planning the treatment and execution of chemotherapy protocols. He also plans institutional protocols for the treatment of cancer.

His clinical research activities include his role as a Principal or sub-investigator in more than 75 clinical trials, where most of them are for USFDA or EMEA submission. He has been a DSMB member of 5 industry-sponsored clinical trials including one study in vaccine and one in NCE. He is a Steering committee member for 3 industry-sponsored clinical trials including 2 early-phase trial of NCE/NBE and a Consultant/Advisor to 4 Indian CROs. He has played the role as a subject expert to 2 Indian Pharma companies in their biosimilar development. He has been invited as a subject expert by pharma companies while presentation to SEC at CDSCO office. He is a member of disease guideline committee for Lung Cancer and Tongue Cancer for Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and also of Scientific Advisory Board of iBioAnalysis – a company in collaboration with Department of Science and Technology of Govt. of India.

His various Educational activities involve an invitation as a faculty for most oncology events in the country and the region. He is also involved as a moderator, debater, guest lecturer, a mentor for oncologists in training and the clinical research professionals working in pharma companies/CROs to train them in oncology therapeutic area and GCP. His mentorship has also been helpful to the medical and communication departments of Indian as well as multinational pharma companies for their existing products and new launches; investigators/ colleagues and ethics committee members in GCP. He is also a member of the editorial board of 4 Indian/Regional oncology journals. He has mentored about 35 MPharm or MSc Life Science students in their 4th term short research project for their thesis and played a role as an External Evaluator for PhD for Tata Memorial Center students.

Dr Desai is affiliated with CIMS Hospital, Ahmedabad since 2014. His past affiliations include Sterling Hospital – Ahmedabad, HCG Cancer Center – Ahmedabad and Apollo CBCC Cancer Center Ahmedabad.

Dr Desai has worked as an Advisor/Consultant – Oncology Therapeutic Area Programs, National Oncology Coordinator and Project Manager for Quintiles Spectral India Ltd, Ahmedabad. He has worked as a Director for VIBGYOR Scientific Research, Ahmedabad from 2006 to 2011.

At Vibgyor and Quintiles, being an in-house oncology resource person he was responsible for the evaluation of the projects, selecting the investigators, site selection, site initiation, training of the CRAs, overseeing the monitoring from the scientific viewpoint, making the budget and agreement with the sponsor and the sites, ensuring the clarity of the interpretation of the protocol with the sponsor and the investigators.

As his career objective, he believes that there is a large room for improvement in cancer therapy and the dire need of innovations. He wishes to be a part of the improvement in the therapeutics against cancer and allied diseases. Having the necessary background of internal medicine and oncology, with experience in clinical research and clinical practice, he believes that he is in the position to ensure the correct drug being investigated with the correct methodology. This includes a thoughtful protocol, effective route and schedule of administration, a realistic endpoint, feasible target in terms of efficacy, ensuring safety and recruiting an adequate number of patients.

He is the founder member of Indian Collaborative Oncology Network (ICON), an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and a full member of European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO). He is a life member of Indian Society of Medical and Pediatric Oncology, Indian Medical Association (Ahmedabad Branch), Association of Physicians of Gujarat and Association of Physicians of Ahmedabad.

Dr. Jason Bacharach, is a board-certified ophthalmologist specializing in glaucoma, and founded North Bay Eye Associates in 1993. He practices in Petaluma, Santa Rosa and Healdsburg, California. Dr. Bacharach served as Chief of Staff for Petaluma Valley Hospital from 2003 to 2005. He continues to be a part of the medical staff at Petaluma Valley and is currently serving on the hospital’s Executive Board. Additionally, he is the Director of Research at North Bay Eye Associates. He is the Principal Investigator in numerous pharmacology and device studies in an effort to increase the effectiveness of glaucoma management as well as numerous other ocular diseases.

Dr. Bacharach travels the world extensively to lecture. He has authored many articles in peer reviewed literature and book chapters.

Dr. Sumit (Sam) Garg is Vice Chair of Clinical Ophthalmology, Medical Director, and an Associate Professor in Cataract, Refractive, External Disease and Corneal Surgery at the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Garg participates in numerous research projects, many of which he has presented at national and international meetings. In addition to his research activities, Dr. Garg has authored numerous book chapters including chapters on LASIK, ophthalmic imaging, and corneal transplantation. Dr. Garg currently serves as chair of the ASCRS Young Eye Surgeons clinical committee. He is a SEE MSICS faculty member and is involved in teaching the ophthalmology fellows and residents at UC Irvine. His clinical and research interests include complex and premium cataract surgery, endothelial corneal transplantation, corneal crosslinking, and LASIK vision correction.

Dr. Mitchell A. Jackson, M.D., is a board-certified ophthalmologist specializing in cataract and refractive surgery. He received his medical degree from Chicago Medical School, completed his internship at Columbus Hospital and his Ophthalmology residency at University of Chicago Hospitals. Currently, Dr. Jackson is the Founder/Medical Director of Jacksoneye and is also a clinical assistant at the University of Chicago Hospitals. Dr. Jackson has extensive experience in the anterior segment of the ophthalmology, including laser vision correction, having performed over 30,000 LASIK procedures since its FDA approval for use in 1995. Dr. Jackson is involved in many phase 2, 3 and 4 FDA clinical trials globally serving as a researcher, advisor, and medical monitor.

Dr. Rishi P. Singh MD is a staff surgeon at the Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the Lerner College of Medicine in Cleveland Ohio. He also currently serves as the medical director of informatics at the Cleveland Clinic. He received his bachelors and medical degrees from Boston University and completed his residency at the Massachusetts Eye and Infirmary Harvard Combined Program in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Singh then completed a medical and surgical fellowship at the Cole Eye Institute in Cleveland, Ohio. He specializes in the treatment of medical and surgical retinal disease such as diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachment, and age-related macular degeneration. Dr. Singh has authored more than 140 peer reviewed publications, books, and book chapters and serves as the principal investigator of numerous national clinical trials advancing the treatment of retinal disease. Dr. Singh is the former president on the Retina World Congress and is on the board of the American Society of Retina Specialists. Dr. Singh has been honored with several research recognitions such as the Alpha Omega Alpha Research Award and American Society of Retina Specialists Senior Honor Award.

Dr Amar Agarwal has completed his M.B.B.S. degree in February 1983 from Madras Medical College, Madras University. His further qualifications include M.S.(Ophtha) from Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, University of Gujarat, FRCS from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, United Kingdom and F.R.C. Ophth from Royal College of Ophthalmologists, London, United Kingdom.

Dr Amar Agarwal is the pioneer of Phakonit which is Phako with a Needle Incision Technology which later on became popular as Bimanual phaco, Microincision Cataract surgery (MICS) or Microphaco. He has also reported and operated the first Pre-Descemet Endothelial Keratoplasty (PDEK), a new type of corneal transplantation that can be used for patients with swelling or edema of the cornea.

Apart from being an ophthalmologist, he is the Chairman and Managing Director of Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital and Eye Research Centre in India. He is the recipient of the Best Doctor award of the State government from then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa in 2014. He is a former President of the International Society of Refractive Surgery (ISRS) and Secretary-General and Scientific Committee Chairman of the Indian Intraocular Implant and Refractive Society (IIRSI).

He has rolled many innovations from the surgical career. Prof. Amar is considered to be a renowned surgeon when it comes to complicated eye surgeries. Having won many awards for his revolutionary innovations in ophthalmology, the significant ones include the BARRAQUER and the KELMAN awards. Till date, he has authored over 50 books and is popular as a human with great charisma and compassionate nature.

Dr. Walia is associated with Southwest Eyecare and Laser Medical Associates in Bakersfield, California, USA.

Dr. Walia earned his Bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Texas, Austin and received his M.B.A from Chadron State. He earned his medical degree from Texas Tech University. Dr. Walia completed his ophthalmology residency at Emory Eye Center and he has authored over a dozen publications. Further, he underwent extensive cataract surgery training at Harvard Medical School.

He is a Comprehensive Ophthalmologist, specializing in eyelid surgery, LASIK, glaucoma, MIGS, cataract surgery, intravitreal injections, and medical management of posterior segment diseases like AMD and diabetic retinopathy.

With Dr. Walia on the CBCC Comprehensive Ophthalmology advisory board, we are poised to support and strategize with global Biopharmaceutical and device companies for their Ophthalmology trial needs in the USA.

Dr. McKinnon earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Ohio State University. He then completed his residency in neurology, and fellowship in clinical neurophysiology from the Mayo Clinic, Arizona. He earned another fellowship in clinical neuromuscular medicine from the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. McKinnon is the founder of the Las Vegas Clinic, a center of excellence for diagnosis and management of neurological disorders. His practice focuses on evaluation and management of disorders involving the peripheral nerve and muscle and brings a comprehensive approach in neurology and the neuromuscular space. Dr. McKinnon is a board-certified neurologist with a specialty board certification in neuromuscular medicine.

With Dr. McKinnon as our KOL in neurology, we are poised to support our global biopharmaceutical companies in their neurology trials in the USA. We aim to build flexible, agile and efficient CRO operation, tailored to suit your clinical development needs.

Dr Parth Goyal has done his M.B.B.S. (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) from Bharati Vidhyapeeth Deemed University Medical College, India (2014) and completed M.D. (Psychiatry) in 2017, from Sumandeep Vidyapeeth University, Vadodara. He has completed 3 years of residency training in Psychiatry, at the Department of Psychiatry, Smt B.K. Shah Medical College and Research Centre, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth.

He is currently working as a Consultant Psychiatrist at Parth Hospital and CIMS Hospital since 2017. He has been a Research Associate at Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, U.S.A. (2014) where he worked on Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, and its role in the reduction of Auditory Hallucination in treatment-resistant schizophrenia under the guidance of Dr Ralph Hoffman. He has also done a clinical rotation for 1 month, in in-patient services at Yale Psychiatric Hospital, Yale University, U.S.A., under the supervision of Dr Robert Ostroff. He has achieved a clinical attachment with the National Health Scheme (United Kingdom) under the guidance of Dr A. N. Chowdhary. He has also been selected as an associate student member to the International Academy of Behavioral Medicine, Counseling, Psychotherapy and Chemical Dependence, Texas, as an associate student member.

His research experience includes thesis work, poster and paper presentation at various national and international level. His thesis work was “Evaluating the effectiveness of the transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as an augmenting agent in patients with anti-psychotic resistant auditory hallucination in schizophrenia (A Study Of 55 Subjects)”, under the guidance of Dr Lakhan Kataria at Sumandeep Vidyapeeth University, Vadodara.

His areas of interest include neuro-stimulation and addiction medicine. Apart from professional work, he is also involved in various community work including an awareness project for promoting prevention against Oral Cancer, which included a Skit presentation in Rural Slums and house-to- house awareness program. He has undertaken a research project on “Training and Assessment of General Practitioners about Malaria Awareness” and organized a CME for the Training and Update of General Practitioners concerning malaria awareness.

His career objective is to provide comprehensive care to patients suffering from mental illnesses, understand mental illness from a biological standpoint and to provide individualized treatment to each patient, by accommodating the cultural, social and biological factors.