Ashikari Breast Center Joins Northwell Health Physician Partners

Breast surgeons Dr. Andrew Ashikari and Dr. Pond Kelemen will see patients at  Northern Westchester Hospital and Phelps Hospital

Two of Westchester’s leading breast surgeons, Andrew Ashikari, MD, FACS, and Pond Kelemen, MD, FACS of The Ashikari Breast Center in Dobbs Ferry and Cortlandt Manor, NY, have joined Northwell Health Physician Partners (NHPP) effective, Monday January 4^th. They will now be accepting patients at two state-of-the-art locations: the Breast Care Center at Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH) in Mount Kisco and NHPP Breast Surgery at Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow.

Drs. Ashikari and Kelemen join a talented team of breast specialists in Westchester as part of the Northwell Health Cancer Institute breast cancer program. They join Alice Police, MD; Anthony Cahan, MD; and Ranjana Chaterji, DO, in providing breast surgery services including nipple sparing procedures and will work with medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists and genetic specialists to develop individualized treatment plans that may include intraoperative radiation for appropriate candidates. Patients can promptly receive imaging, biopsy, surgical consultation, medical and radiation oncology consultations, and genetic information without leaving their community.

“Drs. Ashikari and Kelemen are leading experts in compassionate breast surgery and we are delighted they will be joining the multidisciplinary team at the NWH Breast Care Center to offer advanced treatments for breast cancer and other breast health issues,” said Marla Koroly, MD, Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer at NWH and Associate Ambulatory Physician Executive, Northwell Health Westchester region.  “This is the latest addition to the comprehensive breast programs at Northern Westchester Hospital and Phelps, which provide outstanding medical services, personalized care for the community and an exceptional patient experience.”

Dr. Ashikari has been director of the Ashikari Breast Center since 1999. He is the former chair of surgery at Hudson Valley Hospital Center, and former director of surgery at Dobbs Ferry Pavilion/St. John’s Riverside Hospital. He was the assistant director of the surgical residency program at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center from 2001-2003. In addition, he is an associate professor of surgery at New York Medical College and adjunct clinical associate professor at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. Ashikari is widely published and has completed research on a wide variety of topics and clinical protocols, including breast cancer, prevention for high-risk patients, breast reconstruction; implants; and nipple sparing mastectomies. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Surgical Oncology; the New York Surgical Society; the American Society of Clinical Oncology; the New York Metropolitan Breast Group; and the American Society of Breast Surgeons. He completed a surgical oncology fellowship at the University of Chicago, and an internship and general surgery residence at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Wake Forest University.

Dr. Kelemen joined the Ashikari Breast Center in 2003 as research director and has served as the director of the Melanoma Program at Hudson Valley Hospital Center. Before that, he was director of clinical breast cancer research at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center. Prior to that, he was associate director of clinical activities at the Saint Louis University Cancer Center and director of the Breast Center at St. Louis University Hospital. In addition, he serves as an associate professor of surgery at New York Medical College and as adjunct associate professor of surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Dr. Kelemen is widely published and has served as primary investigator on several clinical trials, including a variety of TARGIT trials that compared intra-operative radiotherapy with post-operative radiotherapy for women with early breast cancer.  He is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the American Medical Association, the American Society of Breast Surgeons, the American Society of Clinical Oncologists, and the Society of Surgical Oncology.

He completed his surgical oncology fellowship at the John Wayne Cancer Institute; a general surgical residency and research fellowship at University of Chicago Hospitals; and pathology residency at University of Illinois at Chicago. He received his medical degree from the State University of New York at Stonybrook and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the City University of New York- City College of New York six-year medical program.

To arrange an appointment with Dr. Ashikari or Dr. Kelemen, contact NHPP Breast Care Center at Northern Westchester Hospital, 400 East Main Street, Mt. Kisco, NY, at (914) 362-6270 or NHPP Breast Surgery at Phelps Hospital, 777 North Broadway, Suite 301, Sleepy Hollow, NY (914) 693-5025.