Anuj Goenka, MD

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Anuj Goenka, MD, joined Northwell Health in 2014 as a radiation oncologist, and is director of radiation oncology for neuro-oncology. He's also an associate professor at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. As a lifelong New Yorker—he grew up about 10 minutes from Long Island Jewish Medical Center—he'd always been involved in the community and interested in making a difference, but didn't know how until the events of September 11th. He was at New York University that day, taking classes in economics and pre-med, and unsure of which path he wanted, but the terrorist attack helped him choose. "I knew that medicine would help the most people in a meaningful way, and that was very motivating," he says. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr. Goenka did a residency at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in radiation oncology. He was compelled by the specialty because it allows him the opportunity to be present with patients and support them through a process that can often feel scary and overwhelming. Dr. Goenka’s practice focuses on brain and spine tumors, and he's director of Northwell's Gamma Knife Icon program, which is used to treat malignant and benign brain tumors while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. Northwell has pioneered the use of this type of radiosurgery, a noninvasive, nonsurgical technique that delivers radiation to targeted areas, says Dr. Goenka. That's led to opportunities for him to travel around the world discussing its use, in the hope that many more patients can see the type of excellent results that Northwell patients enjoy. "My passion is patient care, and it's important to me that patients walk out of appointments having felt heard and understood," he says. "What they teach me in return is strength and resilience. They can have their lives turned upside down but they push forward and deal with their cancer through sometimes tough circumstances. That is inspiring to me, and I want to do everything I can to help them do that."