Who We Are

The mission of the Optimal Cancer Care Alliance (OCCA) is to ensure that each patient receives the optimal dosage of the medications needed to effectively treat their cancer.

Optimal dosage. Best outcome.

Introduction to the Optimal Cancer Care Alliance (pdf slides)

OCCA Chairman of the Board of Directors: Ian F. Tannock

Ian Tannock, M.D., PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Medical Oncology at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada. His clinical research has focused on methodology for clinical trials, and he has led global practice-changing trials for prostate cancer. Dr. Tannock was a member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) from 2001 to 2004. He received honorary degrees (DSc) from London University, UK (2009) and from the Universidad de la República, Uruguay (2020). He is the only non-European to be given the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) award (2012) and he received the Allen Lichter Award for leadership and innovation from ASCO in 2019. Dr. Tannock is a Member of the Order of Canada.

OCCA Treasurer: Mark J. Ratain

Mark Ratain, M.D., has been a faculty member in the Department of Medicine at The University of Chicago since 1986, and is currently the Leon O. Jacobson Professor of Medicine, the Director of the Center for Personalized Therapeutics and Chief Hospital Pharmacologist. In addition, he serves as the Associate Director for Clinical Sciences in the University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Ratain’s research has historically focused on the development of new oncology drugs and diagnostics, but is increasingly focused on the new discipline of interventional pharmacoeconomics. He is the recipient of awards from multiple organizations, including the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American College of Clinical Pharmacology, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association Foundation.

OCCA Chairman of the Board Emeritus: Allen S. Lichter

Allen S. Lichter, M.D., earned his bachelor’s and medical degrees from the University of Michigan. He trained in radiation oncology at University of California, San Francisco, before joining the faculty at Johns Hopkins University, and later the National Cancer Institute. He served as Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Michigan (1894-1996) and as Dean of the Medical School at Michigan (1998-2006). A former President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), he served as CEO of ASCO from 2006-2016. He also served as chairman of the board of the Optimal Cancer Care Alliance from 2017-2021. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

OCCA Directors:

Daniel Goldstein Webpage

Daniel Goldstein, M.D., is a practicing medical oncologist and internist at Rabin Medical Center in Israel, as well as a Senior Lecturer in Medical Oncology at Tel Aviv University, and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina. He is also the Medical Director of Drug and Technology policies, Community Division, Clalit Health Services, Israel. Dr. Goldstein received his medical training at Leeds University (UK), followed by residency in internal medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, and Hematology/Oncology fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta. His research and policy work focusses on the economics of healthcare, with a particular focus on cancer. This work studies the cost-effectiveness, budget impact, and affordability of cancer care in the USA and around the world, and also identifies innovative approaches to provide high quality cancer care, at lower costs.

Duncan Gilbert Webpage

Duncan C. Gilbert, M.D., received his medical degree from the University of Cambridge and trained in internal medicine in Brighton. He undertook specialist training in clinical oncology at the Royal Marsden Hospitals, during which he completed a PhD in the molecular biology of testicular cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research, UK and spent 6 months volunteering at the Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital, Nepal. He is now a clinical oncologist at the Sussex Cancer Centre in Brighton, UK and a Senior Lecturer in Cancer and Clinical Trials at the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL.

David A. Hyman Webpage

David A. Hyman, M.D., J.D. is the Scott K Ginsburg Professor of Health Law & Policy at Georgetown University Law Center. Hyman served as special counsel at the Federal Trade Commission from 2001-2004, where he organized and led hearings on health care and competition – leading to the first joint report issued by the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice, “Improving Health Care: A Dose of Competition.” He is the co-author of Overcharged: Why Americans Pay Too Much For Health Care (2018) and Medical Malpractice Litigation: How It Works, Why Tort Reform Hasn’t Helped (2021).

Beth Jacobson

Beth Jacobson, J.D., earned her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and her law degree from New York University Law School. She was a corporate lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York City for fifteen years and has since held various General Counsel positions with both public and private companies. Currently, she is General Counsel at Kaia Health, Software. She is a frequent speaker about telemedicine at the White House, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). She is also on the Advisory Board of C-TEL; the Board of the Alliance for Telehealth Integrity; a member of the editorial board of the Federation of State Medical Boards and a member of the telemedicine drafting committee of the Uniform Law Commission. In 1997, she made the novel discovery of using thalidomide as a treatment for multiple myeloma for her first husband who had the disease.

Michael L. Millenson Webpage

Michael L. Millenson is an internationally recognized expert on making American health care better, safer, and more patient-centered. The author of the critically acclaimed book, Demanding Medical Excellence: Doctors and Accountability in the Information Age, he is president of Health Quality Advisors LLC and an adjunct associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Prior to starting his own firm, Millenson was a principal in the health-care practice of a major human resources consulting firm. Before that, he was a health care reporter for the Chicago Tribune, where he was nominated three times for a Pulitzer Prize. He has testified before Congress and the Federal Trade Commission, co-authored a case study for the Harvard Business School, and served as faculty for the International Society for Quality in Health Care. He blogs and writes regularly for medical, health policy and lay publications as well as serving on the editorial board of the American Journal of Medical Quality.

Leonard B. Saltz Webpage

Leonard B. Saltz, M.D., earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his Medical degree from Yale University. He completed his medical residency and hematology/oncology fellowship at The New York Hospital/Cornell University Medical College. He is currently Professor of Medicine at Cornell University and Attending Physician and Member, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he served as Chief of Gastrointestinal Oncology from 2012-2017 and is currently Executive Director for Value and Sustainability.

Michael Stebbins Webpage

Michael Stebbins, Ph.D. is the President of Science Advisors, a science and health consulting firm he founded in 2018 to provide science, technology, and public policy guidance to private companies, philanthropies, and non-profit organizations. He previously served as the Vice President of Science and Technology for the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and as the Assistant Director for Biotechnology in the Obama White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He received his B.S. in biology at SUNY Stony Brook and his Ph.D. in genetics while working at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Garth W. Strohbehn

Garth W. Strohbehn, M.D., is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan and an Early Career Research Scientist at the Veterans Affairs’ Ann Arbor Center for Clinical Management and Research. Garth earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and his MPhil and MD degrees from Cambridge University (UK) and Yale University, respectively, followed by residency and chief residency at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and fellowship in Medical Oncology at the University of Chicago. His interdisciplinary research bridges traditional gaps between health services research and clinical trials, studying physician therapeutic decision-making and using clinical pharmacology principles to overcome drug scarcity.