Team Ovarcome
Ovarcome Board of Directors
Runsi Sen
Founder, President & CEO
Runsi Sen, founder of Ovarcome, serves as the President and CEO of the organization. Runsi lost her mother to ovarian cancer in 2009, and in her memory and with her inspiration founded Ovarcome. Under Runsi’s leadership, Ovarcome has experienced significant growth both nationally and internationally.
Runsi graduated from Rice University in 2004 with an MBA in Strategy & Marketing. Runsi also holds a master’s degree in Economics. She serves as an Advisory Board member of the Blanton-Davis ovarian cancer research program at MD Anderson and on the Alumni Board of Rice Business.
Dr. Priya Bhosale
Vice President
Dr. Priya Bhosale, is the Professor of Diagnostic Radiology at MD Anderson Cancer Center and serves as the Chair of international operations at Ovarcome. In this capacity, Dr. Bhosale acts as a key liaison in developing new relationships and partnerships with international organizations that are synergistic. Dr. Bhosale graduated with an MD in 1996 from D.Y. Patil Medical College, Kolhapur, India.
Dr. Alpa Nick
Secretary
Dr. Alpa Nick is a Gynecologic Oncologist at Tennessee Oncology in Nashville, TN. Dr. Nick graduated with a MD from Louisiana State University. She completed her residency training at Vanderbilt University where she served as Chief Resident and fellowship in gynecologic oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her research interest have centered on harmonizing the management of patients with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer, biomarker development for ovarian cancer, and developmental therapeutics.
Linda J. Ibrahim, Treasurer
Linda J. Ibrahim serves as the Chief Accounting Officer and Vice President of Tax & Governmental Compliance at Vantage Drilling. Linda joined Vantage in 2010 and she has over twenty-one years of public accounting and international tax experience with a focus on the energy industry.
Andrew Taktajian
Andrew Taktajian serves as the chief legal counsel for Ovarcome. Andrew is the General Counsel at American Equity Corporation. Andrew was instrumental in acquiring and approving the 501©3 status for Ovarcome and continues to remain engaged with the organization. Andrew is one of the founding Board Members of Ovarcome.
Betty White
Betty White is an ovarian cancer survivor and one of the biggest champions of Ovarcome. Betty actively volunteers within the community to raise awareness on ovarian cancer. As an ovarian cancer survivor for two plus decades, she has a compelling story to share and to inspire the global teal community. Betty remains actively involved with Ovarcome in raising awareness, speaking as an Ovarcomer at events and in fostering the growth of the organization.
Juuhi Ahuja
Juuhi Ahuja is the Founder, President & CEO of Wise Men, an IT Services and Smart Grid Consulting company headquartered in Houston. Wise Men works with 5 of the top 10 companies in the world. Juuhi’s core philosophy is based on 2 Q’s, Quick and Quality. Wise Men has won several awards for being a valued partner and best Supplier of the year from its Fortune 500 customers. Juuhi holds an MBA from New York.
Dr. Aparna Kamat
Dr. Kamat is the Director of Gynecologic Oncology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Methodist Hospital. Dr. Kamat is an active member of several professional societies including SGO, GOG and ACOG. She has authored more than 50 peer reviewed articles and is the Principal Investigator for the Gynecologic Oncology Group trials at The Methodist Hospital. Her clinical focus is centered on providing minimally invasive surgical options for women with gynecologic malignancies and complex gynecologic problems.
Ovarcome Leadership Council
Dr. Shannon Westin
Dr. Shannon Westin is a clinical investigator with a focus on developmental therapeutics and the use of biomarkers to predict response and recurrence in gynecologic malignancies. She currently serves as the Director of Early Drug Development and Phase I trials is the principal investigator of multiple novel treatment trials for gynecologic cancers at MD Anderson.
Dr. Nicole Fleming
Dr. Fleming is an Associate Professor in the Department of Gynecologic Oncology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Fleming believes in working closely with the patient and the referring doctor in order to provide quality care through a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach. Dr. Fleming is an expert in minimally invasive surgery, including robotic-assisted laparoscopy, for appropriate patients with cervical, endometrial, and early-stage ovarian cancers.
Dr. Saketh Guntupalli
Dr. Guntupalli is Associate Professor and Vice-Chair for Clinical Affairs and Quality in the Department of OB/GYN at the University of Colorado School of Medicine at Denver. Dr. Guntupalli serves as director of the fellowship program in women’ cancer as well as director of the Placenta Accreta Response Team (PART) at the University of Colorado Hospital.
Devina Bhojwani
Devina has a bachelor of commerce degree from University of Calcutta and graduated from the Rice full-time MBA program in 2006. Devina pursued the traditional path of joining a large oil and gas corporation, but thereafter pivoted to the small business world in 2010 – since then she has run and operated 4 local area Gymboree Play & Music centers growing them to the top performing in the nation. Devina is a seasoned entrepreneur who has invested in 3 more companies and serve on the board of a STEAM based education franchise in Houston.
Mike Bradbury
Mike Bradbury is a Chartering Manager for Swedish tanker company and has worked in the Maritime industry for over 26 years. Mike lost his beloved wife, Rachel, to ovarian cancer in 2021 at the young age of 46. Rachel was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene, which went undiscovered until after her diagnosis. Mike wants to support Ovarcome’s mission to raise awareness and find a cure for this terrible disease.
Mike graduated from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 1996. Mike also holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Houston.
Dr. Erika Hamilton
Erika Hamilton is the director of the breast cancer research program and gynecologic cancer research program at Sarah Cannon. She sees patients in both the phase I drug development unit and the standard of care clinic including phase II/ III clinical trials who have breast or gynecologic cancers. She is also a partner within Tennessee Oncology. Dr. Hamilton is the Chair of ASCO’s (American Society of Clinical Oncology) Scientific Committee for Metastatic Breast Cancer for 2019-2020 and has served on that committee as a member for the past 3 years.
Dr. Rebecca Arend
Rebecca Arend, is Assistant Professor and an Associate Scientist at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Experimental Therapeutics Program. Her on-going projects include personalized medicine, targeting the Wnt pathway, and immunotherapy in ovarian cancer patients. Dr. Rebecca Arend serves as the chair of UAB’s Tissue Committee and as the co-chair of the Gynecologic Oncology Disease Oriented Working Group (DOWG) and the Precision Oncology Working Group (POWG).
Dr. Payam Kashi
Payam Katebi Kashi, MD, PhD is a physician scientist with The Kelly Gynecologic Oncology Service, Department of Gyn/Ob at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is also a research collaborator with The Women’s Health Integrated Research Center at Inova Fairfax Women’s Hospital, with a particular interest in minimally invasive and robotic assisted surgery.
Dr. Matthew Schlumbrecht
Dr. Matthew Schlumbrecht is a Professor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Miami, Florida. He serves as the Director for the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Program; Medical Co-Director for Research Operations, Cancer Survivorship Program; and the Co-Director of Cancer Control and Prevention for Gynecologic Oncology. He also serves as the Vice Chair of Global and Community Health in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences.
His clinical care of patients is complemented by his ongoing research in education, global health, and health care disparities, with a specific interest in cancer prevention, early detection, and education in underserved populations. He is the international mentor for gynecologic oncology fellows in Nigeria and Bahamas, and works closely with global partners to facilitate comprehensive research in endometrial and hereditary cancers.
Ovarcome Management
Samrawit (Sam) Sium
Social Work Advisor
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Traci Shannon
Program Manager
Shilpa Chakroborty
Program Director, India Chapter
Sanjay Kanakia
Development Director, India Chapter
Dr. Yomi Jaye
Program Director, Africa Chapter
Cathy Sullivan
Genetics Counseling Advisor
Licensed Genetic Counselor
Teresa Deshields
Clinical Psychologist
Kristin Johnson
Clinical Trials Navigator
Ovarcome Survivor Leadership Council
