An integral element of the superior care provided at the Farber Center for Radiation Oncology located in Tribeca New York, is the facility's unparalleled staff. Helmed by founder Dr. Leonard Farber. The team brings decades of experience in top hospitals and private practice, breakthrough research and published work, highly regarded expertise, and the compassion and empathy that radiation patients deserve. In keeping with the center's commitment to patients' comfort and ease, the Farber Center employs a full-time Pain Management Specialist to help minimize the physical toll that both treatment and disease can take on the body, allowing every patient to lead the fullest life possible.
A Board Certified physician in Radiation Oncology, Dr. Leonard Farber has been in private practice for over a decade, recently serving as Chairman of Radiation Oncology at Staten Island University Hospital. Dr. Farber specializes in adult radiation oncology, with particular focus on breast cancer, prostate cancer and gastrointestinal malignancies, lymphomas, head and neck cancers and lung cancers. He is an expert in HDR brachytherapy for various types of cancers, including breast, skin and gynecologic malignancies, and intracranial and body radiosurgery.
After receiving his B.S. and B.A. at the State University of New York at Binghamton, Dr. Farber pursued his M.D. at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Following an internship in internal medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, he did his residency in Radiation Oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he served as Chief Resident. Dr. Farber is a member of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, the American College of Radiation Oncology, the American Radium Society, the American Brachytherapy Society, the New York Cancer Society, the New York Metropolitan Breast Cancer Group, the New York Head & Neck Society, and the Long Island Oncology Network.
Dr. Marnee Spierer (Radiation Oncologist): A Board Certified physician in Radiation Oncology, Dr. Spierer recently served as Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she served as residency program director and was instrumental in the education of residents and medical students. Dr. Spierer also played an integral part of the multidisciplinary sarcoma, pediatric and breast tumor boards. She specializes in adult radiation oncology, with particular focus on breast cancer, sarcoma, and stereotactic body and CNS radio surgery.
After receiving her B.A. at the University of Michigan, Dr. Spierer pursued her MA at the Teachers College at Columbia University. Dr. Spierer then went on to pursue her M.D. at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. Following an internship at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey, she did her residency in Radiation Oncology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Spierer is a member of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, the American Board of Radiology, American Association for Woman in Radiology, American Society of Breast Diseases, New York Metropolitan Breast Cancer Group.
Dr. Spierer has been an invited lecturer on several topics including women's oncology and breast cancer. Her published writings have focused on breast cancer, sarcoma, lymphoma, and pediatric malignancies. She has served as principal investigator on several clinical trials and has been actively involved in many clinical research studies.
Dr. Lauren Shaiova is Board Certified in Hospice and palliative medicine. Currently Dr. Shaiova is Chief of the department of pain medicine and palliative care for Metropolitan Hospital Center in New York City where she has developed the only Department and ACGME fellowship in a public hospital in the country.
Dr. Lauren Shaiova Trained as a fellow in Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. After her training she accepted a position as an attending physician in the Department of Pain and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center in NYC, and was appointed assistant professor at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine. At Beth Israel she held positions as Palliative Medicine clinical director of the HIV/AIDS service, Sickle cell pain clinic, Cancer pain and palliative outpatient services, and held weekly clinics in the department of radiation oncology. In addition she attended on the consult service for hospitalized patients with pain and symptom distress related to cancer.
Dr. Shaiova left Beth Israel Medical Center after 9 years and accepted a position at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to begin a career change that centered around cancer patients only and their pain and palliative care medical needs. Dr. Shaiova attended on the Pain and Palliative Service, and had a geriatric clinic weekly focusing on chronic pain in the elderly as well as end of life issues, and was director of the inpatient unit ay Memorial. Dr. Shaiova held the title of associate professor at MSKCC and a parallel appointment at Weill Cornell Medical School.
Her research interests currently are on new medications for the treatment of pain in the advanced cancer population, she is the principle investigator on several ongoing studies. She is widely published in the cancer pain, fatigue associated with cancer and cancer treatment, and shortness of breath as it relates to cancer. She is also interested in disparities in health care and knowledge of Pain and Palliative care in the public health care system. She is well published and has lectured nationally and internationally and has spent much of her time over her career volunteering in developing countries with Physicians for Human Rights. Most recently she volunteered in Haiti, where among usual medical care for injured adults and children, she was instrumental in the development of a Palliative Medicine unit at a local hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Dr. Michael Jackowitz (Patient Liaison): Dr. Michael Jackowitz is a board-certified osteopathic physician. He did his undergraduate work at Emory University in Atlanta, GA and completed his osteopathic medical training at NOVA/Southeastern College of Medicine with a D.O. degree. After completing his residency in Internal Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, Dr. Jackowitz practiced as a hospitalist with Stamford Hospital for a number of years before going into primary care in Yorktown Heights, NY with a special emphasis on preventive medicine.
Dr. Jackowitz then became the Director of Clinical Affairs for Imaging Heart in NYC and helped pioneer the protocols for non-invasive coronary CT-angiography. He also became one of the house doctors for NYC Ballet and NYC Opera at Lincoln Center.
Dr. Jackowitz is also a part of the fitness/wellness community. He began teaching group exercise over 20 years ago. He is certified through ACE and sat on the ACE advisory Counsel from 1994-1999. He is a member of IDEA, East Coast Alliance (ECA), American College of Physicians, the American Osteopathic Association and the American College of Sports Medicine's Alliance of Health & Fitness Professionals. Dr Jackowitz, who follows a plant based diet, also created and taught a 6-week "Healthy Lifestyles" class about how to put the principles of a healthy lifestyle into practice in the real world. Michael is also the Executive Producer for Seance on a Wet Afternoon, the new Opera by Award winning composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell, Pippin) as well as Daddy Long Legs, a new musical by John Caird (Les Miserables, Nicholas Nicholby) and Paul Gordon (Jane Eyre). Dr. Jackowitz is thrilled to be working with such an important venture as The Farber Center.
