About Us

Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) is one of a select group of medical institutions throughout the United States to have a multidisciplinary team program devoted solely to treating patients with liver cancer. The multidisciplinary team includes oncologists, interventional radiologists, surgeons, social workers, financial coordinators, and pharmacists with additional disciplines as required by the individualized patient treatment plan. Our goal is to provide liver cancer patients and their families with the basic knowledge needed to better communicate with their physicians and to give patients and families hope for the future.

Find out more about our approach to treating liver cancer.

Our Team

Surgeons

Ngoc Thai, MD, PhD - Dr. Thai completed his surgical training at the University of Rochester Medical Center under the direction of Dr. Seymour Schwartz. In addition, he completed a liver surgery and transplantation fellowship under the direction of Dr. John Fung at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute. Dr. Thai is certified by the American Board of Surgery. He is the Program Director for the Abdominal Transplant Program, which includes liver transplantation and advanced liver surgery, at Allegheny General Hospital.

Kusum Tom, MD - Dr. Tom completed her surgical training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey. She completed a liver surgery and transplantation fellowship under the direction of Dr. John Fung at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute. Dr. Tom is a certified American Board of Surgery surgeon. She is the Surgical Director for the Liver Transplant Program at Allegheny General Hospital.

Akhtar Khan, MD - Dr. Khan completed his surgical training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York. He completed a multi-organ transplantation fellowship under the direction of Dr. John Fung at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute and a Surgical Critical Care fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Khan is certified by the American Board of Surgery and board certified in Surgical Critical Care.

Medical Oncologists

Dulabh K. Monga, MD – Dr. Monga completed her training at Dayanand Medical College & Hospital in India. She completed her medical residency at Allegheny General Hospital and subsequent hematology oncology fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh.  Dr. Monga is a board-certified medical oncologist and is Assistant Professor of Human Oncology at Drexel University College of Medicine. Dr. Monga is also a general medical oncologist in the Department of Human Oncology at Allegheny General. 

Saima Sharif, MD, MS – Dr. Sharif is a graduate of Dow Medical College, University of Karachi, Pakistan. She completed her internal medical residency from Tufts University in Boston and her hematology and medical oncology fellowship from the University of Pittsburgh.  During her fellowship, she concurrently secured a Master of Science degree in clinical research, specializing in Clinical Epidemiology. Dr. Sharif is the Assistant Director of Medical Affairs for the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) where she is involved with overseeing and developing concepts for future NSABP trials in colorectal cancer.

Interventional Radiologists

Paul M. Kiproff, MD – Dr. Kiproff graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He completed his residency in diagnostic radiology at Allegheny General Hospital followed by a fellowship in vascular and interventional radiology at UPMC Presbyterian. Dr. Kiproff is certified by the American Board of Radiology in diagnostic radiology and interventional radiology. Dr. Kiproff currently serves as Chairman of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology at Allegheny General Hospital and the Chairman of the Department of Radiology at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital. He also serves as an Associate Professor of Radiologic Sciences for the Drexel University College of Medicine.

Elmer Nahum, MD – Dr. Nahum received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Maryland in Baltimore. He completed his internal medicine internship and residency at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. Dr. Nahum also completed a diagnostic radiology residency at Long Island College Hospital and a fellowship in interventional radiology from SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse. Dr. Nahum is certified by the American Board of Radiology in diagnostic radiology as well as vascular and interventional radiology. He is currently a staff radiologist at Allegheny General Hospital.

Radiation Oncologists

Alexander Kirichenko, MD, PhD – Dr. Kirichenko earned his medical degree at the Kiev Medical University in Kiev, Ukraine, and his doctorate in radiation medicine at the Kiev Oncology Institute, where he practiced as a radiation oncologist. Dr. Kirichenko completed his post-doctoral fellowship in experimental radiation oncology at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He completed his internship in general surgery and his residency in radiation oncology at the University of Virginia Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in IMRT and IGRT at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Dr. Kirichenko is a member of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, the American Brachytherapy Society, and the Mid-Atlantic Society of Radiation Oncologists. Dr. Kirichenko is the System Director, SRS/SRT Programs at the West Penn Allegheny Health System Radiation Oncology Network.

Hepatologist

Jose Oliva, MD – Dr. Oliva earned his medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan.  Dr. Oliva completed a residency in internal medicine at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital.  He completed two fellowships - the first in gastroenterology at Louisiana State University in New Orleans, and the second in transplant hepatology at the University of Pittsburgh.   He is board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology through the American Board of Internal Medicine.  Dr. Oliva joined the Center for Digestive Health in 2003.  He is currently the medical director of the Liver Transplant Program at Allegheny General Hospital and also serves as an assistant professor for the Drexel University College of Medicine.

For more information, or to refer a patient with liver disease, please contact us at:

Abdominal Transplant and Liver Center (ATLC)

Allegheny General Hospital

320 East North Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15212

412-359-6738