Patient Interviews

Dr. John Powderly attended Georgetown Medical School from 1991-95 and was awarded the Lawrence Dean Scholarship. His 4th year of Med School was spent at National Cancer Institute (NCI) as an internship on the Immunotherapy Service. From 1995-1999 he attended the University of Texas, at Houston Health Science Center for a combined Medicine/Pediatrics Residency. In 1999-2000 he was appointed faculty at MD Anderson Cancer Center and performed additional immunotherapy research. His oncology fellowship at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill from 2000-02 focused on dendritic cell immunotherapy.

Sherene Banawan, PA-C is a board-certified Physician Assistant who specializes in oncology. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the UNC at Charlotte and pursued further education at Wingate University, where she obtained her master’s degree in physician assistant studies (MPAS). Before pursuing her master’s degree, Sherene served as a dedicated Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) with expertise in Molecular Biology (MB) at Atrium Health. Sherene's exceptional care and compassion have endeared her to all her patients, who hold her in high regard.

Neel Gandhi, MD is a board-certified hematologist and oncologist who joined Carolina Bio-Oncology in May 2023. Dr. Gandhi has an educational background in chemical and biomedical engineering, and this led him to ultimately pursue medical school, graduating from the University of Tennessee in 2006. He then completed an internal medicine residency at Boston Medical Center, followed by a medical hematology and oncology fellowship at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. Prior to his arrival, Dr. Gandhi was in clinical practice for over ten years in New Jersey, where he served as the Director of Neuro-Oncology at Capital Health Medical Center from 2019-2023. Over the last few years he has been very interested in cancer immunotherapy research and drug development, particularly in primary and metastatic brain tumors. This led him to make a career shift toward Phase 1 immunotherapy. He has presented at regional and national meetings and is an active member of ASCO and SITC.