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About Me
I'm a radiation oncologist, and I specialize in treating brain, base of skull and spine tumors, as well as tumors that arise in the body but go to the brain or the spine, as in certain cases of lung, breast and kidney cancer and melanoma. When I meet with a patient, it’s important for me to introduce them and their family to our team of doctors, therapists, nurses and treatment planners. The patient and their family will also become members of this team – truly the most important part - so we can work together to tailor care based on their wants and needs. At Duke, we’ve developed techniques to precisely and accurately treat small, complex lesions and tumors. We can minimize the amount of radiation that goes into normal tissues and at the same time maximize the amount of radiation where it is needed. Our team is geared to delivering every treatment to each patient exactly as planned, especially in complicated and difficult situations. As a patient or a physician, I think there’s no better place to be than Duke. I love my work, feel honored that my patients place their trust in our team and me and work hard to earn that trust.
- Professor of Radiation Oncology, Radiation Oncology 2018
- Professor in Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery 2018
- Member of the Duke Cancer Institute, Duke Cancer Institute 2000
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Ratings and Reviews
The ratings and reviews are based on patient responses to the overall provider rating question from the survey. The question reads: “Using any number from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst provider possible and 10 is the best provider possible, what number would you use to rate this provider?” Responses are converted to a 5-point rating system and applied consistently to all providers. Learn more about our survey process. Patients who see some types of providers receive a different version of the patient satisfaction survey. Those results are not available on DukeHealth.org.
Training and Education
In the News
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Clinical Focus and Research
I’m involved in coming up with better ways of treating brain metastases through a combination of radiosurgery, more standard radiation and chemotherapy. In glioblastomas, we're looking at developing better ways of treating new and recurring tumors using combinations of radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and surgery. I also work with our clinic to continue to optimize health care delivery and improve the whole process of radiation therapy.
- BMX-001 AS A THERAPEUTIC AGENT FOR TREATMENT OF MULTIPLE BRAIN METASTASES awarded by BioMimetix JV LLC 2018 - 2023
- Sperduto, Paul W., Samuel T. Chao, Penny K. Sneed, Xianghua Luo, John Suh, David Roberge, Amit Bhatt, et al. “Diagnosis-specific prognostic factors, indexes, and treatment outcomes for patients with newly diagnosed brain metastases: a multi-institutional analysis of 4,259 patients.” Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 77, no. 3 (July 1, 2010): 655–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2009.08.025.
- Chang, Zheng, Zhiheng Wang, Jinli Ma, Jennifer C. O’Daniel, John Kirkpatrick, and Fang-Fang Yin. “6D image guidance for spinal non-invasive stereotactic body radiation therapy: Comparison between ExacTrac X-ray 6D with kilo-voltage cone-beam CT.” Radiother Oncol 95, no. 1 (April 2010): 116–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2009.12.036.
- Kirkpatrick, John P., Albert J. van der Kogel, and Timothy E. Schultheiss. “Radiation dose-volume effects in the spinal cord.” Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 76, no. 3 Suppl (March 1, 2010): S42–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2009.04.095.
- Mullikin, T. C., J. Tanksley, J. K. Salama, and J. P. Kirkpatrick. “Rationale for Fractionated and Single-Session Approaches.” In Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy: A Comprehensive Guide: Second Edition, 31–41, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-67743-4_3.
- Torok, J. A., S. R. Floyd, P. E. Fecci, and J. P. Kirkpatrick. “Hypofractionated Stereotactic Radiosurgery (HF-SRS) in the Treatment of Brain Metastases.” In Central Nervous System Metastases: Diagnosis and Treatment, 329–41, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42958-4_23.
- Kirkpatrick, J. P., G. Kim, and J. H. Sampson. “Radiation therapy for gliomas.” In The Duke Glioma Handbook: Pathology, Diagnosis, and Management, 49–75, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107588721.004.
- Zhao, Jingtong, Eugene Vaios, Zhenyu Yang, Ke Lu, Scott Floyd, Deshan Yang, Hangjie Ji, et al. “Radiogenomic explainable AI with neural ordinary differential equation for identifying post-SRS brain metastasis radionecrosis.” In Med Phys, 52:2661–74, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1002/mp.17635.
- Batich, Kristen, Duane Mitchell, Patrick Healy, James Herndon, Gloria Broadwater, Gunn Michael, Min-Nung Huang, et al. “CTIM-10. REPRODUCIBILITY OF CLINICAL TRIALS USING CMV-TARGETED DENDRITIC CELL VACCINES IN PATIENTS WITH GLIOBLASTOMA.” In Neuro-Oncology, 23:vi51–vi51. Oxford University Press (OUP), 2021. https://doi.org/10.1093/neuonc/noab196.202.
- Shenker, R. F., J. G. Price, C. D. Jacobs, D. Niedzwiecki, T. Oyekunle, H. Song, M. Palta, et al. “Oligometastases Treated With an Elective Simultaneous Integrated Boost Have Reduced Marginal Recurrence Rates.” In International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, 111:e480, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2021.07.1331.
Insurance Accepted
Duke Health contracts with most major health insurance carriers and transplant networks, including the ones listed below.
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Aetna
- Aetna Choice POS, Aetna Choice POS II
- Aetna Elect Choice HMO, Aetna Open Access Elect Choice
- Aetna Health Network Only, Aetna Health Network Option
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Limited Benefit Insurance PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice POS
- Aetna Medicare Assure Plan (HMO D-SNP)
- Aetna Medicare Eagle Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Essential Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Value Plan (HMO)
- Aetna Open Access HMO, Open Access Aetna Select, Aetna Open Access Managed Choice
- Aetna Open Choice PPO
- Aetna PCP Coordinated POS Plan
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (QPOS)
- Aetna Select HMO
- Aetna Traditional Choice
- Aetna Voluntary Indemnity Group Plan
- Aetna Whole Health – Duke WakeMed WKCC
- Aetna/CVS Health
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Ambetter
- Ambetter of North Carolina
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
- Blue Advantage
- Blue Medicare (HMO, PPO)*
- Blue Options (123, PPO, HSA)
- Blue Select
- NC State Employees Health Plan
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice does not participate in the plan.
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Cigna
- Cigna Behavioral Health (*Limited eligibility)
- Cigna Choice Plus
- Cigna Connect Individual Family Plan
- Cigna Open Access
- Cigna Open Access Plus
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*Please call Cigna Behavioral Heath to see if the provider is participating in your plan.
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Duke Group Plans
- Duke Basic
- Duke Select
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Experience Health
- Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO) Plan
- Gateway Health Alliance
- Healthgram
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Humana
- Humana Choice (PPO)
- Humana Choice - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana ChoiceCare - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana Gold Choice - Medicare Advantage (PFFS)
- Humana Gold Plus - Medicare Advantage (HMO)
- Humana Medicare Advantage Group Plan - NC State Retirees
- MedCost
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Medicare
- First Medicare Direct
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
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NC Medicaid
- AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina
- Carolina Complete Health
- Healthy Blue
- NC Medicaid Direct
- WellCare of North Carolina
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TRICARE
- TRICARE Prime
- TRICARE Prime Remote
- TRICARE Select
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United Healthcare
- AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (HMO-POS)
- AARP Medicare Complete (HMO, PPO)*
- AARP Medicare Complete Essential (HMO)*
- All Savers Alternate Funding
- All Savers Fully Insured
- United Healthcare (HMO, PPO, POS)**
- United Healthcare Charter/Charter Balance/Charter Plus
- United Healthcare Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Core/Core Essential
- United Healthcare Navigate/Navigate Plus/Navigate Balanced
- United Healthcare Option PPO
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Options PPO
- United Healthcare Select/Select Plus
- United Healthcare Shared Services - Harvard Pilgrim/UHC Options PPO Network
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice and mental health providers do not participate with the plan.
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**Duke Health does not participate in UHC plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Before scheduling your appointment, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the Duke Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any co-payments, co–insurances, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with Duke, your out of pocket liability may be higher. We will contact you regarding your coverage and patient liability. If you are uninsured, learn more about our financial assistance policy.
External Relationships
- BioMimetix JVLLC
- Clearsight RT LLC
- LadeRx, LLC
- Monteris Medical
- Varian Medical Systems