Gynecologic Oncology

The Section of Gynecologic Oncology, under the leadership of Dr. John Moroney, provides the best possible care for patients with gynecologic cancers. Our section has eleven full-time gynecologic oncology faculty and offers innovative treatments, including minimally invasive surgery with the DaVinci robotic system for endometrial cancer and tumor debulking with HIPEC for ovarian/fallopian tube cancer. We also perform radical trachelectomies to preserve fertility in young women with early cervical cancer. Furthermore, our expert team of gynecologic oncologists has experience in treating rare gynecologic cancers. 

Dr. John Moroney and Dr. Katherine Kurnit from Gynecologic Oncology and Dr. Gini Fleming from the Section of Hematology/Oncology run a comprehensive gynecologic oncology clinical trials program that offers patients access to novel treatments. These trials are available not only at the University of Chicago Hyde Park campus, but also at our Orland Park, Crown Point, IN, Ingalls Memorial Hospital, AdventHealth Cancer Institute Hinsdale and Silver Cross locations.

Dr. Nita Lee, who is an expert in the treatment of endometrial cancer and surgery in obese patients, has created a survivorship program, along with the Physician Assistants, to address the specific medical needs of cancer survivors. She is the physician lead of the University of Chicago Woman to Woman Peer Mentoring program for gynecologic cancer survivors, which promotes survivorship programming and formally trains survivors to serve as peer mentors for newly diagnosed patients. She is also the Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement at UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center and will serve as Program Director of the UChicago Medicine Ralph Lauren Center in Hyde Park and Harvey, IL.

Dr. Sarah Ackroyd is passionate about research centered on patient-focused outcomes, decision analysis, and early detection methods for ovarian cancer. She has received a prestigious NCI-funded K12 Scholar Career Development Award in Clinical Oncology, conducting this work under the guidance of Dr. Ernst Lengyel and his research partners at the Max Planck Institute in Munich.

Dr. Han Cun conducts translational research on hereditary ovarian carcinomas and has presented at numerous national and international conferences. Her research aims to identify predictive biomarkers for early detection of high-risk ovarian cancers and to detail the immune microenvironment of BRCA-mutated ovarian tumors.

Dr. Adekunle Odunsi holds numerous honors and awards, including election to the National Academy of Medicine in 2018 and the Rosalind Franklin Excellence in Ovarian Cancer Research Award in 2019. He has authored or co-authored more than 360 publications. As a world-renowned physician-scientist, Dr. Odunsi focuses on characterizing the mechanisms of immune recognition and tolerance in human ovarian cancer and translation of the findings to clinical immunotherapy trials. He has pioneered several pre-clinical and first-in-human clinical trials testing vaccination and cellular therapy strategies to elicit antigen-specific responses and prolong remission rates in patients with ovarian cancer. Dr. Odunsi also serves as BSD Dean for Oncology and Director of the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Gary Altwerger treats complex gynecologic cancers using minimally invasive surgery, upper abdominal cytoreduction, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for patients with limited options, including for patients with limited options. His research focuses on improving treatment options for high-risk gynecologic cancers, including targeted therapies targeting DNA repair pathways, antibody-drug conjugates for uterine and ovarian cancers and strategies to manage platinum hypersensitivity through desensitization. Supported by a Women’s Reproductive Health Research K-award, his translational work examines tumor biology to inform more actionable treatments. He is also committed to education and surgical quality through reproducible techniques, mentorship and disseminating advanced operative skills.

Our physicians work closely with Surgical Oncology in the multidisciplinary management of complex tumor types, clinical trials, novel therapies, and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). For early cervical cancer, we offer fertility-sparing treatment with radical trachelectomy. Our multi-disciplinary Program in Integrative Sexual Medicine (PRISM) for Women and Girls with Cancer, led by Dr. Stacy Lindau, addresses sexual health concerns in female cancer patients and survivors. Additionally, Dr. Iris Romero, a general gynecologist and cancer researcher, and Dr. Shari Snow, the Chief of our Gynecologic Specialties section, have established a cancer risk program to counsel women at high risk for developing gynecologic cancers.  

In addition to our faculty, our clinical team includes highly skilled physician assistants, Maria Agoris, Gina Carter, Hannah Doherty, Mary McMullan, Samantha 'Sam' Mozdzynski and Hannah Toms, as well as chemotherapy nurses, Christine Deskovich, Julie Lutz, and Diandra Scorza; all of whom have decades of experience caring for our patients. The entire team meets weekly for Tumor Board with Gynecologic Pathology, Radiology, and Medical Oncology attending physicians, to share information and insights that lead to the most effective treatments for our patients.

Our section has an extensive research program focusing on the biology of ovarian cancer and on obesity and endometrial cancer. Our ovarian cancer research laboratory is dedicated to understanding the biology of metastasis. Recently, we have explored the use of high-throughput screening to identify novel drugs that can improve the treatment of patients suffering from cancer.  Our members have received research funding from many highly competitive sources, including the National Institutes of Health and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Additionally, our Section offers innovative clinical trials to give our patients access to novel treatments.

Section faculty are responsible for educating students and residents in the diagnosis and treatment of gynecologic cancers and have consistently demonstrated excellence in teaching. With our colleagues at NorthShore University HealthSystem, we offer a highly competitive, ABOG-approved Fellowship program in Gynecologic Oncology, which began in 2010.