LITTLE ROCK — The addition of four new oncologists will expand services and increase access for patients at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and its growing network of
clinics at Baptist Health locations.

 “This is our next phase in hematology/oncology expansion as we progress toward NCI designation,” said Michael Birrer, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and UAMS vice chancellor. “These bright young oncologists will help us provide outstanding cancer care to a broader number of Arkansans.”

Sonia T. Orcutt, M.D., joins UAMS as director of the Division of Surgical Oncology and assistant professor in the Department of Surgery in the College of Medicine.

A board-certified general and complex general surgical oncologist, Orcutt  has expertise in treating gastrointestinal and skin cancers, including liver, pancreas, gallbladder, adrenal, small bowel, appendix and stomach cancers, as well as soft tissue sarcomas and melanomas. She performs laparoscopic and minimally invasive cancer surgeries.

Orcutt is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston University School of Medicine where she was president of the Alpha Omega Honor Society. She completed her residency in general surgery and served as administrative chief at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, followed by a fellowship in complex general surgical oncology at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida. She practiced surgical oncology in Illinois before joining UAMS.

Orcutt is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the Society of Surgical Oncology, Association of Women Surgeons, American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association.

She is accepting new patients. For appointments, call 501-296-1200.

Also seeing patients at the Cancer Institute is Cesar Giancarlo Gentille Sanchez, M.D., who joins UAMS as a hematologist/oncologist and assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine in the College of Medicine.

Gentille Sanchez joins the Cancer Institute’s stem cell transplant and cellular therapy team specializing in the treatment of leukemia, lymphoma and myelodysplastic syndrome. He completed fellowships in blood and marrow transplantation and cellular therapy at Stanford University and in hematology/oncology at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, where he also completed his residency in internal medicine.  He earned his medical degree from Cayetano Heredia University in Lima, Peru.

Gentille Sanchez received the 2017 HONORS Award from the American Society of Hematology and the Outstanding Fellow Award from the Texas Society of Clinical Oncology in 2019.

He is accepting new patients. For appointments, call 501-296-1200.

The following oncologists will treat patients at the UAMS Baptist Health Cancer Center at Springhill Plaza in North Little Rock:

Anusha Jillella, M.D., joins UAMS as a hematologist/oncologist and assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine in the College of Medicine.

Jillella completed her residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at UAMS. She is board certified in internal medicine and the recipient of the UAMS Thomas Andreoli Award for excellence in internal medicine.  She received her medical degree from Gandhi Medical College in Hyderabad, India.

She is accepting new patients. For appointments, call 501-214-2170.

Santanu Samanta, M.D., joins UAMS as a radiation oncologist and assistant professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology in the College of Medicine.

Samanta completed his residency in radiation oncology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Maryland Proton Center and a fellowship at Maryland’s Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Translational Radiation Sciences. Before completing his training in Maryland, he received his medical degree from the University of Calcutta in West Bengal, India, and radiation oncology residency at Christian Medical College in Vellore, India. He is certifiedin proton beam radiation therapy, the most advanced form of radiation therapy coming to UAMS in 2023.

Samanta is accepting new patients. For appointments, call 501-214-2460.