Course Director

Robert Lewandowski

MD, FSIR
Director of Interventional Oncology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Robert J. Lewandowski, M.D., FSIR, is a Professor of Radiology, Medicine, and Surgery in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. He serves as the Director of Interventional Oncology at the Northwestern University Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Lewandowski joined the staff at Northwestern in 2006 upon completion of his fellowship training in Vascular and Interventional Radiology. Dr. Lewandowski is a practicing interventional radiologist who specializes in liver-directed therapy. Based on his clinical oncology program, he has authored or co-authored > 200 articles for peer-reviewed journals on the application of liver-directed therapies for patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. Dr. Lewandowski also performs pre-clinical oncology research in the Northwestern University Interventional Oncology Laboratory and Center for Translational Imaging. In this capacity, he is developing and evaluating novel oncology therapeutics, delivery mechanisms, and imaging modalities. Dr. Lewandowski’s work has been supported by the National Institute of Health, American Cancer Society, the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation, and through industry collaboration via the investigator-initiated trial mechanism.

2026 Sessions

HCC 2026: Year in Review

Speaker

Saturday, November 14 10:50–11:00 AM
Room Atlantic I/II/III
Course Director

Robert Lewandowski

MD, FSIR
Director of Interventional Oncology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Robert J. Lewandowski, M.D., FSIR, is a Professor of Radiology, Medicine, and Surgery in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. He serves as the Director of Interventional Oncology at the Northwestern University Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Lewandowski joined the staff at Northwestern in 2006 upon completion of his fellowship training in Vascular and Interventional Radiology. Dr. Lewandowski is a practicing interventional radiologist who specializes in liver-directed therapy. Based on his clinical oncology program, he has authored or co-authored > 200 articles for peer-reviewed journals on the application of liver-directed therapies for patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. Dr. Lewandowski also performs pre-clinical oncology research in the Northwestern University Interventional Oncology Laboratory and Center for Translational Imaging. In this capacity, he is developing and evaluating novel oncology therapeutics, delivery mechanisms, and imaging modalities. Dr. Lewandowski’s work has been supported by the National Institute of Health, American Cancer Society, the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation, and through industry collaboration via the investigator-initiated trial mechanism.

(Roundtable) Multidisciplinary Tumor Board 2026: HCC, mCRC, CCA & NET

Case Discussant

Case Presenter

Saturday, November 14 11:50–12:15 PM
Room Atlantic I/II/III
Faculty

Ghassan Abou-Alfa

MD, JD, MBA, PhD(hc)
Professor
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA, Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA, and Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Ghassan Abou-Alfa is an Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), Professor of Medicine at Weill Medical School at Cornell University, and Adjunct Professor in Medical Diplomacy at Trinity College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland.

Professor Abou-Alfa completed his undergraduate studies with a major in biology, and his medical doctorate training at the American University in Beirut (AUB). Professor Abou-Alfa completed his postdoctoral training in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology at Yale University. He received his MBA from Columbia University and is completing his JD from Fordham University.

Professor Abou-Alfa specializes in in the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies and in particular, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), intrahepatic and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHC), gallbladder cancer (GB), and fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC). Professor Abou-Alfa leadership effort in the field led to the FDA and other agencies approval of several checkpoint inhibitors and tyrosine kinase inhibitors and biologic targeted therapies

Professor Abou-Alfa is the immediate previous Chair of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Hepatobiliary Task Force and currently serves at the NCI AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC) Vice-Chair for Solid Tumor Working Group. Professor Abou-Alfa serves on the council of the governing board of the Asia Pacific Primary Liver Cancer Expert Association.

Faculty

Julius Chapiro

MD PHD
Associate Professor of Radiology, Hepatology and of Biomedical Engineering
Yale University School of Medicine

Dr. Chapiro is a ABR-certified Diagnostic and Interventional Radiologist and an Associate Professor of Radiology, Digestive Diseases (Hepatology) and of Biomedical Engineering. He is the Principal Investigator of the Yale Interventional Oncology Research Lab and Director of the Center for Minimally Invasive Therapies. Dr. Chapiro’s research focuses on developing new quantitative imaging biomarkers for the diagnosis, characterization, and therapeutic management of liver cancer. His translational research portfolio includes the development of novel embolic agents as well as the application of artificial intelligence solutions for the management of liver cancer. His basic research interest mainly focuses on developing new tools to characterize the tumor microenvironment and the immune system in the setting of loco-regional, image-guided therapies of liver cancer. He authored and co-authored >180 original research articles, reviews and book chapters and gave more than 150 talks and invited lectures at national and international forums within the last seven years including in Europe, China, South Korea and the Middle East. Dr. Chapiro is an Editorial Board member of the Journal of Hepatology (EASL), Radiology and Radiology: AI (RSNA), Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (SIR) and Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology: Oncology (CIRSE). He chairs the Research Committee of the Society of Interventional Oncology and chaired the Annual Meeting Program Planning Committee for the Subspecialty of Interventional Radiology at the Annual Radiological Society of North America meeting 2021-2023. He is the co-initiator of the "Rising Star" Student Exchange Program in collaboration with the Charité University Hospital in Berlin.

Faculty

Ramon Jimenez

MD
Attending Surgeon, Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic and Gastric Surgery
Miami Cancer Institute

Dr. Jimenez is an attending surgeon at Miami Cancer Institute and a member of the Division of Pancreatic and Hepatobiliary Surgery. Other clinical interests in addition to HPB surgery include gastric cancer, melanoma and sarcoma. Dr. Jimenez joined MCI in 2017 from Hartford Hospital in Connecticut where he was Chief of Surgical Oncology. Educational background: Yale University (undergraduate), Johns Hopkins Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital (residency), Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (surgical oncology fellowship).

Faculty

Mina Makary

MD
Associate Professor of Radiology & Surgery
The Ohio State University Medical Center
Faculty

William Rilling

MD, FSIR
Professor of Radiology & Surgery
Medical College of Wisconsin / Froedtert Hospital

William S. Rilling, MD, FSIR, is a Tenured Professor of Radiology and Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He completed his diagnostic radiology residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin and his fellowship in Vascular and Interventional Radiology at Northwestern University in Chicago in 1996. He has been practicing at the Medical College of Wisconsin since 1996 and is the Vice Chair of Clinical Operations in Radiology and is also the former Division Chief of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, a role he held for 14 years.

Dr. Rilling has served on the Executive Council for the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), the Board of Directors for World Congress of Interventional Oncology (WCIO), SIR Foundation, and Society of Interventional Oncology (SIO). As Education Councilor for SIR, he co-directed the first three professional education meetings dedicated to Interventional Oncology, beginning in 2002. He has also served as the annual meeting chair for both SIR and WCIO and is the past-president for the Society of Interventional Oncology (SIO). He has served as local and national principal investigator for several important IO trials and is currently active as a consultant for several companies working to improve outcomes in IO.

Faculty

Constantinos Sofocleous

MD, PhD
Professor of Interventional Radiology
Weill Cornell Medical College; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Dr. Constantinos T. Sofocleous is clinician scientist specializing in interventional oncology, caring for people with cancer. He has been practicing interventional radiology since 1998 and joined the Interventional Radiology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering in 2002. His expertise include the treatment of primary and metastatic liver and lung cancers using thermal ablation (radiofrequency, microwave, cryoablation) or other non-thermal sources of energy (NanoKnife ® or irreversible electroporation and histotripsy). He also specializes in catheter-directed therapies that treat malignant liver tumors that cannot be removed through surgery or destroyed locally (ablation). He lectures nationally and internationally on topics such as embolization, radio embolization, and ablation of liver tumors — particularly metastases from colorectal cancer in the liver and lungs. His research interest is the assessment, validation, and development of biomarkers and surrogate imaging biomarkers. He was the MSK site primary investigator, of a multi-institutional, RCT Yttrium 90 glass microspheres in addition to standard of care second-line chemotherapy for colorectal liver metastases. He has the Optablate NIH Supported R01 clinical trial. He led the ACCLAIM trial as the global PI. He is currently leading and SIR foundation supported trial to optimize dosimetry for Y90 TARE via post treatment PET guided biopsies. He also explores the immunomodulation effcets of locoregional therapies uisng peripheral and tissue biomrakres. Despite his strong interest in research, Dr. Sofocleous' main focus remains caring for patients.

Course Director

Robert Lewandowski

MD, FSIR
Director of Interventional Oncology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Robert J. Lewandowski, M.D., FSIR, is a Professor of Radiology, Medicine, and Surgery in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. He serves as the Director of Interventional Oncology at the Northwestern University Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Lewandowski joined the staff at Northwestern in 2006 upon completion of his fellowship training in Vascular and Interventional Radiology. Dr. Lewandowski is a practicing interventional radiologist who specializes in liver-directed therapy. Based on his clinical oncology program, he has authored or co-authored > 200 articles for peer-reviewed journals on the application of liver-directed therapies for patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. Dr. Lewandowski also performs pre-clinical oncology research in the Northwestern University Interventional Oncology Laboratory and Center for Translational Imaging. In this capacity, he is developing and evaluating novel oncology therapeutics, delivery mechanisms, and imaging modalities. Dr. Lewandowski’s work has been supported by the National Institute of Health, American Cancer Society, the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation, and through industry collaboration via the investigator-initiated trial mechanism.

Session 2: Y90 in 2026 — Dosimetry, Segmentectomy & Real-World Strategy

  • Moderator
    • Ripal Gandhi, MD
    • Robert Lewandowski, MD, FSIR

Y90 Practice in 2026: Dosimetry, Outcomes & What Experts Do Differently

Speaker

Saturday, November 14 1:35–1:45 PM
Room Atlantic I/II/III
Faculty

Zachary Berman

MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Radiology
University of California, San Diego

Zachary T. Berman, MD is an Associate Professor of Clinical Radiology at the University of California, San Diego, with a subspecialty focus in interventional oncology and hepatobiliary malignancies. A graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Dr. Berman completed his internal medicine internship and diagnostic/interventional radiology residency at UC San Diego. He now serves as a national thought leader in liver-directed therapy and interventional radiology.

Personalized Glass Y90 Dosimetry: How I Do It

Speaker

Saturday, November 14 1:45–1:50 PM
Room Atlantic I/II/III
Faculty

Kirema Garcia-Reyes

MD
Assistant Professor, Associate Program Director
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Personalized Resin Y90 Dosimetry: How I Do It

Speaker

Saturday, November 14 1:50–1:55 PM
Room Atlantic I/II/III
Faculty

Nima Kokabi

MD

Y90 in HCC: Which BCLC Patients Should Be Treated?

Speaker

Saturday, November 14 1:55–2:05 PM
Room Atlantic I/II/III
Faculty

David Liu

MD, FSIR, FRCPC
Chief Strategy Officer
NRT

Dr David M Liu MD is an Interventional Radiologist with the current appointments of Clinical Professor of Radiology at the University of British. He is board certified in both Canada and the US, and holds appointments at the Vancouver General Hospital, University of British Columbia Hospital and the BC Cancer Agency with a cross appointment in the department of Surgery. Dr Liu received his medical degree from University of Toronto, completed his radiology residency at University of British Columbia, and interventional radiology fellowship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and has practiced on both sides of the border. In addition to benchside and clinical research in the fields of novel embolic platforms, ablative technologies and cancer related thromboembolic disease. Dr Liu maintains an active clinical practice interventional oncology practice incorporating all aspects of embolization, ablation, venous access, and palliative therapy in all organ systems. He is the co-founder and co-chair of SHOW, and has been credited with 6 book chapters, over 50 publications, over 100 invited lecture worldwide, and is an active member and inducted fellow of the Society of Interventional Radiology. He had recently been awarded the CIRA award from the Canadian Association of Interventional Radiology (CAIR), in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to the practice of IR in Canada and worldwide. He holds specific interest in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, and metastatic colorectal carcinoma and is actively involved in both translational research and clinical trials.

Metastatic Liver Disease: Where Y90 Adds Value (and Where It Doesn’t)

Speaker

Saturday, November 14 2:05–2:15 PM
Room Atlantic I/II/III
Faculty

Venkatesh Krishnasamy

MD FCIRSE
Director of IO and Interventional Research
UAB

Venkatesh (Kavi) Krishnasamy is the Director of Interventional Oncology and Interventional Research at the University of Alabama Birmingham. His clinical focus is primarily the full gamut of Interventional Oncology and MSK/pain interventions. In particular, he specializes in complex percutaneous ablation and transarterial therapies with adjunctive techniques. His academic interests include device/software development, translational research, and multidisciplinary oncology trials. He additionally focuses on therapeutic guideline and algorithm development.

When Not to Use Y90: The Hard Decisions

Speaker

Saturday, November 14 2:15–2:20 PM
Room Atlantic I/II/III
Faculty

Ahmed Kamel Abdel Aal

Professor
Chief of Interventional Radiology
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Ahmed Kamel Abdel Aal, MD, PhD, FSIR is Professor of Radiology and Internal medicine, Chief of Vascular and Interventional Radiology and Vice Chair of Radiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, and Director of Interventional Radiology at LBJ Hospital in Houston. Dr. Kamel is American board certified in Radiology and Interventional Radiology. He received fellowship training in Vascular and Interventional Radiology as well as Neuroradiology at University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Kamel holds Masters of Science and PhD degrees in Radiology. He was awarded the “Top ten faculty award for excellence in resident education”, the “Certificate of Merit Award” from the Radiological Society of North America, the “Certificate of Merit Award” from the American Roentgen Ray Society, the “Certificate of Outstanding performance in Veterans Affairs Radiology Service” and the “Louisville Slugger Award for best Board reviewer”. His areas of clinical interest are Dialysis interventions, Interventional Oncology, Arterial disease interventions, Spine interventions and DVT management.

Radiation Segmentectomy and Lobectomy

Speaker

Saturday, November 14 2:20–2:30 PM
Room Atlantic I/II/III
Faculty

Kirema Garcia-Reyes

MD
Assistant Professor, Associate Program Director
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Beyond the Vial: New Radioembolics, Imaging Visibility & Platform Evolution

Speaker

Saturday, November 14 2:30–2:40 PM
Room Atlantic I/II/III
Faculty

David Liu

MD, FSIR, FRCPC
Chief Strategy Officer
NRT

Dr David M Liu MD is an Interventional Radiologist with the current appointments of Clinical Professor of Radiology at the University of British. He is board certified in both Canada and the US, and holds appointments at the Vancouver General Hospital, University of British Columbia Hospital and the BC Cancer Agency with a cross appointment in the department of Surgery. Dr Liu received his medical degree from University of Toronto, completed his radiology residency at University of British Columbia, and interventional radiology fellowship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and has practiced on both sides of the border. In addition to benchside and clinical research in the fields of novel embolic platforms, ablative technologies and cancer related thromboembolic disease. Dr Liu maintains an active clinical practice interventional oncology practice incorporating all aspects of embolization, ablation, venous access, and palliative therapy in all organ systems. He is the co-founder and co-chair of SHOW, and has been credited with 6 book chapters, over 50 publications, over 100 invited lecture worldwide, and is an active member and inducted fellow of the Society of Interventional Radiology. He had recently been awarded the CIRA award from the Canadian Association of Interventional Radiology (CAIR), in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to the practice of IR in Canada and worldwide. He holds specific interest in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, and metastatic colorectal carcinoma and is actively involved in both translational research and clinical trials.

Extrahepatic & Emerging Applications: What’s Real vs What’s Next

Speaker

Saturday, November 14 2:40–2:50 PM
Room Atlantic I/II/III
Faculty

Siddharth Padia

MD
Professor
UCLA

Dr. Siddharth Padia is an Interventional Radiologist and Professor of Radiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He is also director of Interventional Radiology at UCLA Santa Monica. His areas of clinical expertise and research interests include liver cancer, interventional oncology, vascular disease and portal hypertension.

Dr. Padia earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. After completing his transitional internship at The University of Hawaii in Honolulu, Dr. Padia began his residency in diagnostic radiology at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and graduated as Chief Resident. After spending many years practicing interventional radiology at the University of Washington, Dr. Padia joined the faculty at UCLA in 2016.

Dr. Padia specializes in advanced minimally-invasive technologies to treat liver cancer by infusing highly radioactive particles (Yttrium-90) into the liver, and has treated over 800 patients with this therapy. Due to his expertise in this field, he is the primary author of the national treatment guidelines for Yttrium 90 radioembolization, and is a director of the national annual course to educate physicians on this therapy. Recently, he has helped develop novel treatments for patients suffering from knee arthritis, specifically genicular artery embolization. He has recently led and completed the largest US clinical trial to date for genicular artery embolization, and is embarking on multiple trials for embolization of joint pain.

Discussion and Audience Q&A

Saturday, November 14 2:50–2:55 PM
Room Atlantic I/II/III

Personalized Dosimetry in Y90: Mandatory vs Waste of Time

Speaker

Saturday, November 14 5:15–5:25 PM
Room Atlantic I/II/III
Faculty

Nima Kokabi

MD
Course Director

Robert Lewandowski

MD, FSIR
Director of Interventional Oncology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Robert J. Lewandowski, M.D., FSIR, is a Professor of Radiology, Medicine, and Surgery in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. He serves as the Director of Interventional Oncology at the Northwestern University Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Lewandowski joined the staff at Northwestern in 2006 upon completion of his fellowship training in Vascular and Interventional Radiology. Dr. Lewandowski is a practicing interventional radiologist who specializes in liver-directed therapy. Based on his clinical oncology program, he has authored or co-authored > 200 articles for peer-reviewed journals on the application of liver-directed therapies for patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. Dr. Lewandowski also performs pre-clinical oncology research in the Northwestern University Interventional Oncology Laboratory and Center for Translational Imaging. In this capacity, he is developing and evaluating novel oncology therapeutics, delivery mechanisms, and imaging modalities. Dr. Lewandowski’s work has been supported by the National Institute of Health, American Cancer Society, the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation, and through industry collaboration via the investigator-initiated trial mechanism.

Big Picture IO: How We Got Here and Where We're Headed

Speaker

Sunday, November 15 11:50–12:05 PM
Room Atlantic I/II/III
Course Director

Robert Lewandowski

MD, FSIR
Director of Interventional Oncology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Robert J. Lewandowski, M.D., FSIR, is a Professor of Radiology, Medicine, and Surgery in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. He serves as the Director of Interventional Oncology at the Northwestern University Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Lewandowski joined the staff at Northwestern in 2006 upon completion of his fellowship training in Vascular and Interventional Radiology. Dr. Lewandowski is a practicing interventional radiologist who specializes in liver-directed therapy. Based on his clinical oncology program, he has authored or co-authored > 200 articles for peer-reviewed journals on the application of liver-directed therapies for patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. Dr. Lewandowski also performs pre-clinical oncology research in the Northwestern University Interventional Oncology Laboratory and Center for Translational Imaging. In this capacity, he is developing and evaluating novel oncology therapeutics, delivery mechanisms, and imaging modalities. Dr. Lewandowski’s work has been supported by the National Institute of Health, American Cancer Society, the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation, and through industry collaboration via the investigator-initiated trial mechanism.

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