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MEET OUR ONCOLOGISTS
AJAY DESAI, MD
DIRECTOR OF RADIATION ONCOLOGY
Dr. Ajay Desai is a board-certified radiation oncologist. Before joining Rio Bravo Cancer Center, he served the Bakersfield community for over 20 years as the first in Kern County to provide Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), the Prostate Seed Implant Program, and Mammosite Brachytherapy Treatment.
He served as chief resident at the State University of New York at Brooklyn after graduating from the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston. He interned at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center in South Carolina and has extensive experience in private practice, having served as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Department of Radiation Oncology, State University of New York.
VINH-LINH NGUYEN, MD
DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL ONCOLOGY
Dr. Nguyen was an organic chemist by trade, with a bachelor’s degree of Science in Organic Chemistry. Interestingly, he also earned a minor degree in French Literature from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, in 1994, summa cum laude. Despite having many options, he accepted the invitation to join the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine for all his medical training. His primary reason was that in 1993, Robert Casey, the governor of Pennsylvania, had had his double kidney and liver transplant at the University of Pittsburgh.
During his education, Dr. Nguyen was given numerous awards for his outstanding academic achievement, community service and compassion, and roles in breakthrough research in immunotherapy. He has been invited to give multiple lectures and has also been invited to be the hematology/oncology expert for a popular website Findthetopdoc.com.
After training, Dr. Nguyen was appointed the Medical Director of Tallahassee Cancer Center (part of Capital Regional Medical Center Network) and was there for two years. The damp climate, the rain, and the mosquitoes drove him away to land on this West side of the United States, and he settled in Bakersfield in 6/2007. He fell in love with the people of Bakersfield, the surrounding communities, and Kern County for their courage, integrity, generosity, and hospitality, and for the past 14 years, he has laid deeper and deeper roots in this community, with the hope that he can continue serving for many more decades.
Dr. Nguyen recently relocated his Blood and Cancer Therapeutics practice to Rio Bravo Cancer Center , which shares the same vision and care philosophy to provide the best cancer care to patients in Kern County.
DAN ISHIHARA MD, PhD
RADIATION ONCOLOGIST
Dr. Ishihara is a board-certified specialist in Radiation Oncology, bringing extensive experience from his previous roles at Ascension St. Vincent in Evansville, IN, and Norton Health Care in Louisville, KY.
He completed his residency in Radiation Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX, following an internship at the University of Hawaii. Dr. Ishihara earned his M.D. and Ph.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he participated in the Medical Scientist Training Program. His academic and clinical background is complemented by numerous first-author publications in peer-reviewed journals, focusing on the integration of radiation therapy with immunotherapy and other treatment modalities. Dr. Ishihara’s expertise and dedication to evidence-based care will be a valuable asset to our team and to the patients we serve. We remain committed to providing excellent, patient-focused, comprehensive cancer care to families throughout Kern County.
