By John Wallace
In May of this year the Fox Chase Cancer Center announced the appointment of Jordan Anaokar, MD, as its new site director for radiology.
“In making this announcement, it is especially exciting for us to promote a rising star, who has earned the great respect of her peers, mentors, and trainees around Fox Chase, and whose talent and leadership will further advance radiologic services within Fox Chase and all of Temple University Health System,” said Richard I. Fisher, MD, president and CEO of Fox Chase.
In her new role, Anaokar will coordinate with medical staff and the department of radiology in developing and implementing departmental programs in addition to her clinical care, research and teaching. She will serve as the department leader, working in consultation with the chair and chief of radiology for Temple University Health System (TUHS), acting as liaison with nursing services and other clinical areas throughout Fox Chase, as well as Fox Chase leadership and colleagues throughout TUHS.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve the Fox Chase community in this capacity as we continue to provide quality cancer imaging services to Fox Chase patients and the broader TUHS community,” said Anaokar.
Anaokar will also be responsible for implementing and assisting in the development of departmental programs, overseeing quality management and performance improvement in radiology care, overseeing medical records review, and engaging in physician recruitment and retention efforts, among other responsibilities.
Anaokar has been an associate professor in the department of diagnostic imaging at Fox Chase since January 2016. She specializes in over a dozen different kinds of cancer with a treatment focus on gastrointestinal, genitourinary and thoracic imaging. She has been serving as the director of the Fox Chase Diagnostic Imaging Protocol Lab since 2020.
Anaokar earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 2001 and went on to receive her medical degree from Columbia University in 2008. She completed an internship in internal medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City and her residency in diagnostic radiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. During her time there she served as chief resident and completed fellowship training in abdominal imaging and cross-sectional interventional radiology.
She is a member of several professional and scientific societies, including the Radiologic Society of North America, the Society of Abdominal Radiology, and the Society of Thoracic Radiology. She also serves on a number of committees at Fox Chase, including the Faculty Practice Plan Committee and the Research Review Committee.
Anaokar’s decision to enter the radiology field was the result of some indecision regarding her future.
“I was one of those students in medical school who was constantly changing my mind about which field I wanted to enter,” Anaokar explained. “Each new rotation brought new possibilities. I was originally drawn to radiology because it touches so many different aspects of medicine and I would still be able to interact with physicians from many different fields. Also, I knew that such a technology-dependent specialty was bound to evolve dramatically over the course of my career, and that was an exciting prospect for me.”
In the end, it was the correct choice.
“I love being an oncology imager because imaging is integral to cancer staging and surveillance, and radiologists are an important part of a patient’s interdisciplinary care team. But the people at FCCC really make my job special,” she said. “Our radiology staff and technologists see our patients regularly over the course of their cancer treatments. They realize that they are meeting patients at a vulnerable and scary time in their lives. Because of this, the staff brings an exceptional degree of patience, kindness and attention to detail to their work. It makes me really proud to work at Fox Chase.”
In fact, Anaokar’s work with others empowers and motivates her.
“I’ve had multiple mentors up until this point, and I expect that I will have more. My residency director at UCLA, Dr. Rob Suh, helped me navigate the challenges of being a chief residency, which was probably my first adult leadership position. Dr. Steve Raman was my fellowship director at UCLA. He helped me push the boundaries of my comfort zone, encouraged me to say yes to new ideas and projects to see where they would take me,” she said.
As for her role as a leader at Fox Chase, Anaokar says her goal is to follow the golden rule and do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
“I’ve always been drawn to people who lead by example, and I try to model that,” she said.
A successful career is wonderful, but when asked about her greatest accomplishment she switched gears.
“I’m mother to three amazing kids, ages 2, 7 and 10,” Anaokar said when asked about her greatest accomplishment.
