Cancer institute announces inaugural team of over 70 physicians

SARASOTA — The Sarasota Memorial Health Care System recently announced the Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute’s inaugural team of community physicians. 

Medical Oncologist Dr. Richard Brown oversees the team made up of over 70 physicians, including, surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists, pathologists and other specialists. Brown is the medical director of the cancer institute at Sarasota Memorial.

The physicians are organized into specialty teams to look into the most common tumor sites, including breast, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, lung, gynecologic and neurological cancers, with additional tumor sites planned in the near future, according to a statement. Each team is multidisciplinary to evaluate and integrate best practices, monitor adherence to national clinical pathways, and incorporate emerging technologies with the goal of advancing cancer care delivery.

"By bringing these physician teams together, we can implement a more collaborative approach to cancer care, while ensuring access to advanced and personalized treatments for our patients," says Brown in the press release.

The statement says that institute team members commit to a higher level of care by participating in multidisciplinary cancer conferences, called tumor boards. These conferences provide platforms for them to review cancer cases to ensure patients receive the optimal treatment and highly individualized care. 

The physicians also are involved in clinical research, oncology education, community service, medical staff leadership and other cancer Institute activities.

“We are leveraging the significant clinical expertise in our community and uniting them to provide the most comprehensive care,” says Brown. “This will be ongoing, and we expect the membership to continue to evolve and expand based on our patients’ needs.”

The Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute is named in honor of Brian Jellison whose family foundation donated $25 million to go toward the Sarasota Memorial Hospital Cancer Institute. The donation came from the Brian and Sheila Jellison Family Foundation. Brian died from cancer in 2018. He led Lakewood Ranch-based Roper Technologies for 17 years. 

The SMH care system began working on the cancer program in 2018. Currently, the institute is in the midst of expansion. Preliminary site and designs plans were approved earlier in the year for the addition of a six-story cancer outpatient pavilion to the Sarasota main campus and a two-story cancer center to be built on the Venice campus.