Our Team

Our Team

Why do so many people turn to Mary Bird Perkins? It’s because we have some of the best cancer minds in the country, spending every moment taking cancer care to the next level. Our team includes clinicians, physicians and hospital and university partners collaborating to deliver stellar cancer care. Our patients tell us that there’s no other team they’d trust with their care, and we are honored to be there for them.

Board of Directors

Cordell Haymon

Cordell Haymon
Chair
PSC Group, Retired

Hank Saurage

Hank Saurage
Vice Chair
Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate

Jerry Goss

Jerry Goss
Secretary/Treasurer
Goss Wealth Management LLC

Thomas J. Adamek, Vice Chairman Stonehenge Capital Company

Thomas J. Adamek
Immediate Past Chair
Stonehenge Capital Company

Dr. Fontenot

Jonas Fontenot, PhD, MBA
President and CEO
Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center

Katherine Castle, MD

Kate Castle, M.D.
Medical Director
Southeast Louisiana Radiation Oncology Group

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Rolfe Miller
Foundation Chair

Anthony O'Connor

Anthony O’Connor
Cadence Insurance

Giering

Cathy Giering
Keogh Cox & Wilson, Ltd.

Dearman

Mark Dearman
Rubicon, LLC

Mawe Takyi Dent Asset Management

Mawe Takyi
Asempa Wealth Advisors

Karen Breaux

Karen Breaux
EAG Gulf Coast, LLC

francek

Kyle France
Louisiana Business Advisory Group

 

Bryan Bienvenu, MD

Bryan J. Bienvenu, M.D. 
Louisiana Hematology Oncology Associates

Cynthia B. Peterson, PhD Louisiana State University

Cynthia Peterson
Louisiana State University

Tee Brown

Tee Brown
GMFS, LLC

Steven Moore

Steven Moore
Steven J. Moore, LLC, Attorney at Law

Sandra Chaisson Brown Headshot

Sandra Brown
Southern University’s College of Nursing and Allied Health

Vanessa Graham, Secretary/Treasurer VGraham LLC

Vanessa Graham
VGraham LLC

Rebecca Nelson

Rebecca Nelson
Community Volunteer

Matthew L. Mullins Attorney, Alexander Sides. LLC

Matt Mullins
Alexander Sides

Chairman Emeritus
J. H. Campbell, Jr.
W. Patton Culbertson, Jr., PH.D.
Brett Furr
Robert S. Greer, Jr.
D. Jensen Holliday*
Jerry Jolly
Richard A. Lipsey
Tom J. Meek, Jr., M.D.
Bill O’Quin
M. J. Rathbone, Jr., M.D.*
Donna Saurage

Secretary/Treasurer Emeritus
Anna B. Lipsey*

Medical Director Emeritus
James E. Hancock, M.D.*
Gregory C. Henkelmann, M.D.
Sheldon A. Johnson, M.D

Director Emeritus
Alice Greer
John Smith
Wallace F. Armstrong*
John W. Barton, Sr.*
Mark P. Bensabat
Lee Michael Berg
Terence Beven, M.D.
Frederic T. Billings III, M.D.
Richard C. Boyer, M.D.
Lynnwood J. Brassett, M.D.*
L. Heidel Brown *
Redfield E. Bryan, Jr., M.D.
D. V. Cacioppo, M.D. *
Dudley W. Coates *
Beth Courtney
Louis D. Curet*
Mortimer F. Currier, M.D.
Teri G. Fontenot
Brett P. Furr
Charles C. Garvey*
Alice Greer
G. Lee Griffin
R. Bryan Griffith, Jr., M.D.
Merrill O. Hines, Jr., M.D.
Rose Hudson
Henry W. Jolly, Jr., M.D. *
J. Gerard Jolly
David Kahn, M.D. *
Maurice C. King, Jr., M.D.
Preston V. Kors *
Susan H. Lipsey
Michael H. Martin
Lillian Maurin
Frank D. McArthur II
Sancy McCool *
C. Brent McCoy
Hillar C. Moore, Jr.*
Hermann Moyse, Jr. *
Julius H. Mullins, Sr., M.D. *
John W. Munson, D.D.S. *
Don H. Neufeld*
G.T. Owen, Jr. *
G.T. Owen III *
Roy A. Parker, PH.D.
Thomas Ramsey, M.D.*
Kevin P. Reilly, Jr.
Harry D. Richardson *
Eula W. Palmer Rogers, M.D. *
Donna M. Saurage
Gary A. Sligar
John Smith
Robert M. Stuart, Sr.
Troye A. Svendson
O. M. Thompson, Jr., M.D.
Paul R. Thompson
Roland M. Toups
J. Ralph Vannoy, M.D. *
D. Randolph Waesche
Maurice J. Wilson, M.D. *
Allie Woolfolk, M.D. *

President and CEO

Jonas Fontenot, PhD, MBA

Dr. Fontenot

It was not so long ago in 1971 when grim statistics fueled the United States declaring the “War on Cancer.” Today paints a different picture. Cancer mortality rates have decreased 20 percent. People are living longer and beating the disease, and survivorship is expected to rise by 30 percent within the next several years. Advancements in treatment have been remarkable. At Mary Bird Perkins, we are actively helping make this progress possible through our leadership, research and care delivery. Together, with likeminded partners, we are pushing forward in the fight against cancer.

The Cancer Center and its hospital partners provide innovative treatments and unparalleled collaborative cancer services. This includes our nationally-recognized efforts in cancer prevention and disease site-specific multidisciplinary care teams. Also, along with LSU Health Sciences Centers in New Orleans and Shreveport, Mary Bird Perkins was selected by the National Cancer Institutes to participate in a novel approach to clinical trial delivery.

Through this culture of innovation, Mary Bird Perkins is attracting the best cancer minds in the country, from expert physicians and highly specialized scientists to forward-thinking leaders in supportive care and other disciplines. This translates into patients having access to the highest-quality cancer care in the communities where they live. That is what drives us: always putting the patient first.

Senior Management

Dr. Fontenot

Jonas Fontenot, PhD, MBA
President and CEO

Renea Duffin

Renea Austin–Duffin
VP Cancer Support, Outreach & Clinical Research

Jodi Conachen

Jodi Conachen
Chief Operating Officer

Susan Dickerson

Susan Dickerson
VP Human Resources

Danielle Mack

Danielle Mack, CFRE
VP Chief Development Officer

Dana Neucere headshot

Dana Neucere
VP Finance & Administration Chief Financial Officer

Melissa O'Banion

Melissa O’Banion
VP Marketing and Communications

Cancer Center Administrators 

Mike Miranda

Mike Miranda
Cancer Center Administrator – Northshore

Ryan Houston Headshot

Ryan Houston
Cancer Programs Adminstrator – Community Site

Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams
Cancer Center Administrator – Baton Rouge

Medical Directors

Andre A Bonnecaze

Andre’ Bonnecaze, M.D.
Internal Medicine and Palliative Care

Victor Lin

Victor Lin, M.D., Ph.D.
Genetics and Clinical Research

Kos Kovtun, MD

Konstantin Kovtun, M.D.
Adaptive Radiation

Dr. Kate Castle

Kate Castle, M.D.
Radiation Oncology

Constance Blunt, MD

Constance Blunt, M.D.
Cancer Prevention and Outreach

Daniel LaVie MD

Daniel LaVie, M.D.
Hematology and Medical Oncology

Partners

BATON ROUGE GENERAL

In 2022, Baton Rouge General’s Pennington Cancer Center (BRG) and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center partnered to expand and enhance cancer care resources in the Greater Baton Rouge area.

This partnership enables Baton Rouge General, a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center to work together to make it easier for patients to receive the highest quality cancer care close to home. It also serves the missions of both organization by emphasizing a strong community focus on prevention, early detection and treatment. 

Both organizations share technology and collaborate on clinical programs like clinical trials, nutrition, rehabilitation, support groups and medical oncology, and connect patients with enhanced treatment options. Whether patients choose to receive care at Mary Bird Perkins or Baton Rouge General, linked electronic medical record systems streamline treatments and communication. Depending on patients’ needs and preferences, they can receive care from either organization, or both, as some medical oncologists rotate between facilities.

WOMAN’S HOSPITAL

Since 2017, Woman’s Hospital and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center and Our Lady of the Lake have partnered to increase access to cancer care for women battling breast and gynecologic (GYN) cancers. This collaboration blends the recognized expertise of each organization in caring for women with cancer to deliver the most advanced, coordinated care throughout Baton Rouge and region.

The partnership has increased access to physician specialists, offered additional treatment options and clinical trials and enhanced support and survivorship programs. In addition, physicians, nurses and other cancer care professionals have access to a wider array of resources to provide the most focused, individualized patient care plans.

In 2018, the Breast & GYN Cancer Pavilion was built, providing a physical location to offer a convenient, comprehensive array of Breast & GYN cancer services. The state-of-the-art facility is located on Woman’s Hospital’s campus and houses diagnostic services, outpatient surgery, infusion (chemotherapy), radiation therapy, clinical trials and physician offices.

Women from throughout the region are choosing the Breast & GYN Cancer Pavilion to receive the unique level of care offered by some of the foremost experts in the country.

CANCER SERVICES

Cancer Services and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center (MBPCC) joined forces in an effort to provide support services to those impacted by cancer in Southeast Louisiana. For more than 60 years, the organization has worked closely with cancer patients during their treatment and recovery to ensure they maintain a healthy wellbeing, medical equipment, nutritional supplements and more. Cancer centers from throughout the region refer patients and their families to Cancer Services for critical support and assistance to patients and their families.

Cancer Services serves about 4,000 people per year, including children and their siblings impacted by cancer.

TERREBONNE GENERAL HEALTH SYSTEM

In 2008, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center formed a partnership with the hospital, Terrebonne General Health System, and Cancer Care Specialists. Each party had one goal in mind: to offer residents of the Bayou Region a comprehensive cancer center, close to home.

Since then, the Cancer Center has grown and evolved to meet the needs of the community, but its mission has remained the same: to improve survivorship and lessen the burden of cancer.

This mission is especially important in Louisiana – a state that suffers from high cancer mortality rates due to lack of access to care, delayed diagnosis and other factors.

As a comprehensive cancer facility, the Cancer Center provides the full continuum of cancer care – from prevention and early detection to diagnosis, treatment, recovery and survivorship. The Center’s services include screening, mammography, education, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. Clinical trials and patient navigators – nurses who guide patients through the treatment process – are available as well.

The Cancer Center offers world-class diagnostic and treatment technology, including the Elekta Infinity linear accelerator. This leading-edge technology enable faster, more accurate treatments.

The Cancer Center offers free cancer screenings, community education and support opportunities for cancer patients throughout the year. Residents of the Bayou Region can also get free cancer screenings though the Early Bird, a mobile medical clinic that helps bring early detection to the uninsured at times and locations that are convenient.

The new center – constructed by the McDonnel Group – is also the first building in the region and the first hospital in Louisiana to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification. And while these achievements are something to celebrate, the real focus of the new Cancer Center is the patient.