Dava F. Gerard

Dr. Gerard‘s extraordinary, accomplished career in healthcare spans three decades and includes clinical practice, cancer center and nonprofit leadership, academic positions, board leadership, council appointments, public education, and community service.

In her 20 years of clinical work, Dr. Gerard practiced breast surgery; general surgery with a breast surgery focus; and general, vascular and trauma surgery. In addition, she‘s an expert in accreditation: a recent few of the long list of positions she‘s held include accreditation surveyor for the American College of Surgeons, Commission on Cancer and the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, Commission on Cancer. She has also served as administrator, cancer service line, for Presbyterian Healthcare Services; executive director/administrator, oncology service line of Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare; chief operating officer and vice president of Nevada Cancer Institute; and president and medical director of the Don & Sybil Harrington Cancer Center.

At The Oncology Group, Dr. Gerard consults with clients who are working to obtain accreditation by the Commission on Cancer or the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), or who may need help resolving any deficiencies noted during the survey process.

Passionate about educating the public about cancer and wellness through the media, Dr. Gerard has appeared as a guest on numerous radio and television programs, discussing everything from raising funds for cancer patient assistance to innovations in breast cancer treatment. She has written articles for a range of publications, including the Journal of the American Medical Women‘s Association, the Journal of the Texas Panhandle Physician‘s Association and the Orange County Medical Association Bulletin, and has appeared at monthly television press conferences highlighting timely topics in cancer, including PET-CT, advanced radiotherapy services, quality of life intervention during and after cancer treatments, and clinical trials.

Other notable personal appearances include the White House Conference on Aging and testifying before Congress about the benefits of mammography screening, which ultimately led to the reversal of the recommendation against mammographic screening of women ages 40-49.

Dr. Gerard has held academic positions at Texas Tech School of Medicine, West Texas A&M, Amarillo College, and the University of California, Irvine. She is certified by the American Board of Surgery, the American Board of Physician Executives, and is a Juran Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. Her memberships include the American College of Physician Executives, the American College of Surgeons, the American Society for Clinical Oncology, the Association of Cancer Executives, the Association of Community Cancer Centers, the Association of Women Surgeons, and the American Society of Breast Disease.

Dr. Gerard is licensed to practice medicine in Texas and California. She received her bachelor of science degree in pre-medical sciences from The Pennsylvania State University, her M.D. and M.S. from the University of California, San Diego, and her M.P.H. from the UCLA / RAND Corporation Healthcare Executive Program.