Daniel S. Oh, MD, and the entire Multidisciplinary Lung Cancer team at USC’s Keck School of Medicine recently received the Impact Award during the 2015 LUNG FORCE Gala.

The award recognizes a public health professional whose career and work have made major and lasting contributions to the world of lung health. It was presented June 20 during an event hosted by actor and comedian Kim Coles at the Skirball Cultural Center.

The gala is part of an effort by the American Lung Association in California to increase awareness of lung cancer and make lung cancer in women a public health priority. The event also featured a silent auction and raised funds to support lung cancer research.

The Lung Cancer Program at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of the few programs in the country in which patients with lung cancer can be evaluated simultaneously in one visit by physicians of different specialties, such as thoracic surgery, pulmonary medicine, medical oncology and radiation oncology. This team approach allows patients to benefit from real time multidisciplinary discussion of their care to provide advanced personalized care in a streamlined setting.

Joining Oh at the gala to receive the award were physicians Chris Lee of radiology, Ching-fei Chang and Alex Balekian of pulmonology, and Barbara J. Gitlitz and Jorge Nieva of medical oncology, plus researcher Ite Laird-Offringa, PhD, and nurse navigator Nancy Berman. Other recipients are Jeff Hagen, MD, and Mike McFadden, MD, of thoracic surgery, and Eugene Chung, MD, PhD, JD, of radiation oncology.

Oh, an assistant professor of surgery and an integral part of the multidisciplinary team, specializes in general thoracic surgery, which includes benign and malignant diseases of the lung, pleura, esophagus, mediastinum and chest wall. He has an interest in applying and expanding the role of minimally invasive and robotic technology in the diagnosis and treatment of the conditions afflicting his patients.

Recognizing some of the limitations of standard thoracoscopic surgery or VATS (Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery), Oh currently utilizes robotic technology with the da Vinci system to perform surgery when appropriate. These techniques allow for operations to be performed through small incisions for less pain and a shorter recovery period.

Oh also serves as the chairman of the board of the American Lung Association in Los Angeles and Orange County.

Medical professionals from the Keck Medicine of USC accept the Impact Award on June 20 during a gala held by the American Lung Association of Los Angeles.