Summit
Orange County Lung Summit 2026
Local Voices. Stronger Lungs. A healthier Orange County. Healthy Lungs California presents the Orange County Lung Summit 2026, mobilizing a unified voice about diagnosing lung cancer in Orange County, California. Speakers include Loretta Erhunmwunsee, MD; Alexander Sweiden, MD; Daryl Pearlstein, MD; Edward Kim, MD; Pankaj Gupta, MD; Rick Van Etten, MD; Hari B. Keshava, MD; Amy Cummings, MD, PhD; Tom Waddington, MD; Sanjivan Kohli, MD; and more.
Orange County Lung Summit 2026
Featured Speakers
Hari Keshava, MD
Thoracic Surgeon — UCI Health
Dr. Hari Keshava is a UCI Health thoracic surgeon who specializes in disorders of the chest, including lung cancer, metastatic lung cancer, mesothelioma, esophageal cancer and malignancies of the thymus. His clinical focus also includes gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), mediastinal malignancies, tracheal diseases and chest wall deformities.
Keshava earned his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, followed by a general surgery internship at UC San Francisco School of Medicine. He completed a residency in general surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, as well as a research fellowship in thoracic oncology at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Conn.
Next he completed a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill-Cornell Medical Center in New York City, which included a fellowship in thoracic surgical robotics from the American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Keshava also holds a master's degree in medical device and diagnostic engineering from USC.
His research interests include outcomes in lung cancer, esophageal cancer and mesothelioma, as well as cancer survivorship, cancer detection devices and health policy. He is the author or co-author of numerous research articles in peer-reviewed journals, including the European Journal of Surgical Oncology, the Annals of Thoracic Surgery and the World Journal of Surgery. He has also made presentations at national and international conferences, including the American College of Surgeons and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.
Edward S. Kim, MD, MBA
Physician Executive & Medical Oncologist — City of Hope
Edward S. Kim, M.D., M.B.A., FACP, FASCO, is an internationally recognized physician executive, scientist and medical oncologist known for his scientific innovation, leadership, and advocacy for equity in clinical study participation. His leadership at City of Hope has significantly improved patient outcomes and access to nationally ranked cancer research and treatment, including more than 730 cancer-focused clinical trials each year.
He is among the country's foremost champions for eliminating outmoded clinical trial participation criteria that often impact underserved populations, resulting in serious gaps in care and research integrity. Dr. Kim is renowned for his seminal BATTLE (Biomarker-integrated Approaches of Targeted Therapy for Lung Cancer Elimination) study, which revolutionized lung cancer by introducing effective personalized therapies.
He has served as a principal and co-principal investigator on numerous clinical studies and protocols, and authored or co-authored more than 250 published articles, book chapters, and reviews in top-tier journals such as The Lancet, The Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Discovery, Nature Medicine, and Cancer Prevention Research.
Dr. Kim is one of only 15 oncologists worldwide recognized as a 2024 "Giant of Cancer Care" by OncLive, has twice been honored by Modern Healthcare as one of the nation's Top 25 Diversity Leaders, and is a U.S. News & World Report "Top Doctor." He earned his M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler School of Business, his M.D. through the Honors Program in Medical Education at Northwestern University, and completed a medical oncology fellowship at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Pankaj Gupta, MD, FACP
Chief of Hematology/Oncology, VA Long Beach — Professor of Clinical Medicine, UC Irvine
Pankaj Gupta, MD, FACP, is the Chief of Hematology/Oncology at VA Long Beach and Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California Irvine. He received his medical degree and training in India and England and completed a Fellowship in Hematology-Oncology-Transplantation at the University of Minnesota. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology and Hematology.
His basic, translational, and clinical research has been funded by the VA, NIH, DoD and industry, and he has authored over 110 scientific publications. He is the site Principal Investigator for SWOG, national VA cancer trials programs including NAVIGATE and the Lung Precision Oncology and Screening Program (LPOP), and 20 clinical studies, as well as national Study Chair for NCI-sponsored trials.
His leadership experience includes serving as the Chair of VALB's Cancer Committee and Program and the VISN22 Hematology/Oncology Community of Practice, and member of the VA National Oncology Field Advisory Board and an NCI Steering Committee.
Founder & Convenor
Amy L. Cummings, MD, PhD
Confirmed Speaker — Coalition Alignment & Closing
Amy L. Cummings, MD, PhD, is a thoracic oncologist, physician-scientist, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where she serves as Director of Lung Cancer Screening and Clinical Trial Access at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
She is the founder of the California Lung Cancer Coalition (CLCC) and a leading force behind Healthy Lungs California, a statewide initiative working to improve lung cancer prevention, early detection, screening, and access to care across California.
Dr. Cummings' work spans early-stage lung cancer, precision medicine, clinical trials, biomarkers, and the use of clinical data and technology to improve cancer care.
Through Healthy Lungs California and CLCC, she brings together academic institutions, health systems, community organizations, advocates, and policymakers to address disparities in lung cancer screening and care, expand community-based education and screening programs, strengthen patient pathways, and advance policy and innovative approaches to early detection — with particular focus on reaching populations and communities that have historically experienced barriers to timely lung cancer screening and care.