Physicians & Staff
Our physicians are recognized world experts in prostate cancer. They pioneered seed implantation for prostate cancer in the United States and are responsible for training most of the physicians performing seed implantation today. The nursing, dosimetry and administrative staff from the Seattle Prostate Institute joined the PCTC team and have 10-20 years experience treating and managing prostate cancer treatment.
Dr. Peter Grimm
Dr. Grimm is the Executive Director of the Prostate Cancer Treatment Center (PCTC). He is Board Certified in Radiation Oncology by the American Board of Radiology. He is also the former medical director and co-founder of the Seattle Prostate Institute. In 1985, he along with John Blasko and John Sylvester, pioneered prostate implantation as it is performed today. Since that time, he and Dr. Sylvester have treated more than 7,000 patients. They have trained more than 6,000 physicians, nurses and physicists and travel extensively in the U.S. and abroad providing research information, training and support.
Dr. Grimm has been instrumental in the technical aspects of seed implantation and has patents on needle design, diagnostic tools and seed technology. He has been closely involved in the development of the current implant needle as well as Source Link
, Rapid Strand and Thin Strand technologies.
He is intensely interested in quality assurance, both at PCTC and other centers. He is the CEO of ProQura, a business that provides quality assurance and dosimetry planning services to brachytherapy centers worldwide. He has more than 60 publications in the field of seed implantation and is one of the lead editors of the book The Prostate Cancer Treatment Book.
He is currently on the Medical School Board of the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences and the board of Long Live the Kings, a civic organization dedicated to preserving wild salmon. He has also served on Medicare's Practicing Physicians Advisory Board.
In 2009, he received the American Brachytherapy Society Presidents Award, honoring his outstanding contributions to the field of Brachytherapy. Dr. Grimm received his medical education at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and his graduate training in radiation oncology at UCLA.
Dr. Grimm has a son Justin, an IT specialist at the University of Washington and a daughter Robyn Vera, DO, a resident in Radiation Oncology at Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond, Virginia.
Dr. Grimm's Curriculum Vitae
Dr. John Sylvester
Dr. John Sylvester completed both his Medical Degree and specialty training in Radiation Oncology at UCLA. He is board certified in Radiation Oncology by the American Board of Radiology. He was awarded the American Cancer Society Fellowship during his year as chief resident at UCLA. In 1987, he began performing prostate brachytherapy with Drs. Blasko and Grimm and joined the Seattle team full time in 1988. He is a member of the American Brachytherapy Society (ABS), The American Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and the American College of Radiology.
Over the past two decades Dr. Sylvester has performed over 3,000 prostate brachytherapy procedures. He has developed and assisted in the development of several technical improvements in the procedure, including how to better visualize the urethra during the procedure and how to optimally utilize R.A.P.I.D. strand. He was the first physician in the U.S. to use I125 Echo Seed, a more visible (on ultrasound) radioactive seed. He was the lead Seattle investigator in a gene therapy protocol for salvage of external beam radiation therapy failures. He initiated the image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) approach used at the Swedish Cancer Institute's Radiation Oncology centers for more precise Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) for prostate cancer. He is the lead investigator in a randomized trial evaluating the new ThinStrand™ versus standard size seeds. He is the lead investigator in a multi-institutional protocol evaluating the quality of life outcomes of patients treated with EBRT plus a Cesium seed implant boost. Dr. Sylvester is also working in partnership with the lead Brachytherapists at MDAH and Princess Margaret Hospital on a new brachytherapy outcomes nomogram to replace the outdated and inaccurate nomogram that is in current use. He is the lead Seattle investigator in a Palladium dose de-escalation protocol for men with low risk prostate cancer. He has published numerous articles and medical textbook chapters on prostate brachytherapy and co-authored and edited The Prostate Cancer Treatment Book.
The above work has led Dr. Sylvester to being called upon to present at national and international conferences on prostate cancer on a regular basis. He has presented at the World Congress of Endourology (Holland), American Society of Clinical Oncology (New Orleans), Urologic Society of Australia (Melbourne). More recently (Nov 2009), he presented the 15-year Seattle results on radioactive seed implantation of the prostate, at the American Society of Therapuetic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in Chicago and the “modern” Seattle dosimetry outcomes data and technique at the May 2009 ABS conference in Toronto. He is also one of the three clinicians who wrote the most recent ABS guidelines used by prostate cancer Brachytherapists worldwide.
Dr. Sylvester was Director of the Puget Sound Tumor Institute from 1991 through 2000. Dr. Sylvester co-founded the Seattle Prostate Institute with Dr. Grimm in 1997 and served as the Director of Education and Training for 8 years. Together with Drs. Grimm and Blasko he ran a monthly program which trained more physicians in permanent seed implantation of the prostate, than any other program in the world. They also ran the highly regarded Annual Advanced Prostate Brachytherapy Conference, held in Seattle. Dr. Sylvester was the Director of the Seattle Prostate Institute from 2006-2008. He is the Chief Medical Officer of ProQura, an organization developed by the Seattle team, focused on improving the quality of permanent prostate brachytherapy throughout the world. ProQura has developed a network of over 70 high-quality brachytherapy centers worldwide and has multiple publications in the medical literature to that regard. Dr. Sylvester is currently both the Medical Director and Director of Research at the Prostate Cancer Treatment Center.
Dr. Sylvester's Curriculum Vitae
Sheila Kaufman, RN
Ms. Kaufman received her diploma in nursing from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in 1970 and continued pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from University of Akron in 1987. She worked at the University of Washington Cancer Center for 9 years (1989-1998) in the outpatient cancer treatment center, including 18 months with the Prostate Brachytherapy program. Her career has been dedicated to Prostate Brachytherapy since 1997, working at the University of Washington program in 1997-1998 and at the Seattle Prostate Institute from 1998-2009. She has one son.
Shannon Greenburg, RN, BSN
Ms. Greenberg began her career in prostate brachytherapy in the late 1980’s helping Drs. Grimm, Sylvester and Blasko pioneer the inception of prostate brachytherapy at Northwest Hospital. She was the first Female Student Body President at Bellarmine High School in Tacoma, WA, 1976-77. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Seattle University in 1982. She has raised 3 children as well as authored a nursing article regarding nursing care of Seed Implant patients.
Devi Naidoo, BS, RT(T,R,NM), Chief Dosimetrist
Ms. Naidoo is considered one of the world's experts in prostate brachytherapy planning. She has been a Radiation Therapist for 30 years, beginning her initial training at UCLA and Princess Margaret Hospitals in Toronto. She has been a Clinical Instructor for Student Radiation Therapists for 10 years. She has performed prostate cancer dosimetry exclusively for over 11 years and has performed over 15,000 permanent seed implant plans. She joined the Prostate Cancer Treatment Center in July 2009 after working with Drs. Grimm, Sylvester and Blasko for over 11 years at the Seattle Prostate Institute.
Mary Schotanus, Clinic Coordinator
Mary started as the Radiation Receptionist at the First Hill Campus of the Swedish Medical Center Tumor Institute in March 1989. She became the Lead Patient Care Coordinator in 1993 at the newly formed Northwest Tumor Institute to work for Drs. Grimm, Sylvester and Blasko. In 1997, she was selected to be the clinic coordinator at the Seattle Prostate Institute at the Swedish First Hill campus for Drs. Grimm, Blasko and Sylvester. She assumed her current role as clinic coordinator at the Prostate Cancer Treatment Center in July of 2009. Mary has dedicated her career to excellence in patient care and developing a world class brachytherapy program and team.
Anne Grilley, Business Coordinator
Anne is the business coordinator for the Prostate Cancer Treatment Center. She has more than ten years of business administration experience in the cancer treatment field. Anne holds an Associate of Arts degree from Shoreline Community College and has completed additional undergraduate studies at Central Washington University as well as American River College in Sacramento.
Amanda Khanjian, Patient Care Coordinator
Amanda has worked for Drs. Grimm and Sylvester for 8 years as a receptionist, medical records coordinator and patient surgery coordinator. She is currently working on her Interior Design degree as a full-time student and works part-time at Prostate Cancer Treatment Center as a patient care coordinator.
Kaitlyn Pew, Receptionist
Kaitlyn has worked for Drs. Grimm and Sylvester for the past three years. Her role is to ensure a smooth coordination of consultations and follow-ups for our patients.
Bill O’Reilly, IT Director
Bill was the IT Director at the Seattle Prostate Institute for 7 years working for Dr. Peter Grimm, Dr. John Sylvester and Dr. John Blasko. During that time he managed the SPI website and their IT infrastructure. Bill continues in his role, has also started his own consulting business and now continues his support of PCTC in that capacity. Bill has an Associate degree from North Seattle Community College.
The Prostate Cancer Treatment Center is focused on providing our patients with the most comprehensive care available. Our team includes radiation oncologists, urologists, anesthesiologists, medical physicists, radiology technologists, nurses, medical and research assistants and insurance professionals.
It is the goal of our entire team to provide you with the information, education and support that you need during each visit with us. During office hours, helpful professionals always answer our phones, not automated answering machines.
Our physicians give patients their cell phone numbers so that they can be reached 24 hours a day for questions or concerns. We take pride in our patient’s outcomes, our facility and the level of service we provide to each patient.