Our Team
Our successful treatment of even the most difficult and challenging conditions is based not only on the very effective Gamma Knife technology, but also on our team's expertise and decades of radiation oncology and neurosurgical experience.
Gamma Knife of Spokane has successfully treated thousands of patients since opening in 2002. We provide an upbeat and positive environment where you are welcomed and treated with dignity, respect and a smile. We have an open door policy for patients' families. They are welcome in the preparation rooms and to accompany patients into the gamma knife area until we begin treatment.
John J. Demakas, M.D.
Specialty: Neurosurgery
The Gamma Knife of Spokane would not be a reality without the vision of Dr. John Demakas back in 2001. It was his relentless advocacy that brought it from a ‘good idea’ to reality – in spite of unforeseen challenges and difficulties to make it as successful as it is today.
Dr. Demakas lived life to its fullest. He embraced life with vigor. He wanted that for his patients as well and always stressed doing what was best for the them. It was that vision of improving the quality of life for patients that drove his passion to bring a Gamma Knife program to Spokane.
He realized this technology was 'disruptive' to how a neurosurgical practice had been run in the past. But he embraced and advocated for it because it simply was 'better for the patient' in many cases.
Dr. Demakas saw the potential of such advanced technology and, regardless of the small market of Spokane, visualized how such technology would benefit an entire region and also extend his expertise beyond his already impressive surgical skills. It is his vision that is shared by the rest of the team to take the program to the highest level that we enjoy today.
While we greatly miss John, his legacy continues. He is remembered as a brilliant surgeon, technological pioneer, fearless visionary and most of all, trusted friend.
Alexander R. MacKay, M.D.
Specialty: Neurological Surgery
Primary Location:
910 West 5th Ave.
Suite 102
Spokane, WA 99204
Dr. MacKay graduated from Princeton University Summa cum Laude in 1971 after doing research in neurophysiology at Princeton and Woods Hole MBL. He received his medical degree in 1975 from Harvard Medical School. He then completed an internship and residency in Neurological Surgery at the University of California in San Francisco, where he did research on stereotactic interstitial radiation for malignant brain tumors. After moving to Spokane in 1981, he continued to do radiation implants for selected malignant gliomas until less invasive technologies developed. Dr. MacKay is board certified in neurological surgery.
Robert K. Fairbanks, M.D.
Specialty: Radiation Oncology
Primary Location:
601 S. Sherman
Spokane, WA 99202
Other Locations:
Deaconess Health and Education Bldg.
910 West 5th Ave, Suite 102
Spokane, WA 99204
Dr. Robert Fairbanks is a board certified Radiation Oncologist who trained at Johns Hopkins Hospital, finishing his residency in 1996. He completed his M.D. degree and internship at Tulane University School of Medicine where he received several fellowships, including an American Heart Association Research Fellowship and an American Diabetes Association Research Fellowship. His undergraduate studies in cell biology were completed at Arizona State University.
Before moving to Cancer Care Northwest and the Gamma Knife of Spokane, Dr. Fairbanks was at the Flynn Cancer Center in Everett, Washington, where he was on staff as a Radiation Oncologist. Prior to that, he was an associate professor with Texas A&M School of Medicine.
Wayne T. Lamoreaux, M.D.
Specialty: Radiation Oncology
Location:
Deaconess Health and Education Bldg.
910 West 5th Ave, Suite 102
Spokane, WA 99204
Dr. Lamoreaux has extensive training in the latest cutting-edge technology aimed at improving patient outcomes while reducing the toxicity of radiotherapy. He has a special interest in Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), gamma knife radiosurgery for brain tumors, brachytherapy for prostate, breast and gynecologic cancers.
Dr. Lamoreaux received his B.A. degree from Utah State University in Logan, UT and then obtained his M.D. degree in 2000 from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. In 2001, he finished a Transitional Internship at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane.
Dr. Lamoreaux completed his four-year residency at Washington University in St. Louis at the Mallinckrodt Institute, Department of Radiation Oncology, a premier academic institution and a leader in IMRT, image-guided and stereotactic radiotherapy, and brachytherapy. While at Mallinckrodt, he served as Chief Resident. Throughout his career, Dr. Lamoreaux has co-authored scientific articles and has presented his research at many national and international oncology meetings. In 2004, he received the RSNA Roentgen Resident/Fellow Research Award.
Christopher Lee, M.D.
Specialty: Radiation Oncology
Location:
Deaconess Health & Educational Bldg.
910 West 5th Ave., Suite 102
Spokane Wa 99202
Christopher M. Lee, M.D., Radiation Oncologist, joined Cancer Care Northwest in July of 2006. Dr. Lee has advanced experience with state-ofthe-art radiotherapy treatment techniques including 3-dimensional conformal (3D-CRT), intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), brachytherapy (both HDR and LDR), as well as intracranial and extracranial stereotactic radiosurgery.
Dr. Lee graduated cum laude in Biochemistry from Brigham Young University in 1997, which included a summer research fellowship at Harvard University and Brigham and Women¹s Hospital. He subsequently attended Saint Louis University School of Medicine where he received his M.D. with Distinction in Research degree in 2001. He has completed 4 additional years of specialty training in Radiation Oncology at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital and University of Utah Medical Center during which he was given multiple national awards including the Beckstrand National Cancer Fighter of the Year Resident Scholarship and RSNA Roentgen Resident Research Scholarship. Dr. Lee has actively pursued both basic science and clinical research throughout his career and has authored multiple scientific articles and given presentations on radiotherapy technique and the use of radiotherapy in the care of patients with gynecologic, head and neck, breast, and prostate malignancies.
Jonathan D. Carlson, M.D., PhD
Specialty: Neurosurgery
Location:
105 W 8th Ave #200
Spokane, WA 99204
509.624.9112
Dr. Carlson is a board certified surgeon at Inland Neurosurgery and Spine Associates. He completed his neurosurgical training at Oregon Health & Science University in 2008. He obtained his medical degree at Loma Linda University in 2001. During his training in medicine he also completed a Ph.D. in Physiology in 1998, studying the neural mechanisms of Parkinson's disease. He has published over 20 scientific papers in the fields of stereotactic neurosurgery and Parkinson's disease. His neurosurgical practice is subspecialized in the surgical treatment of brain tumors as well as radiosurgery.
Chris Heller, M.D.
Specialty: Neurosurgery
Chris Heller, M.D., joined MultiCare Rockwood Clinic in June 2012. He received his undergraduate degree from Gonzaga University in Spokane, and his medical degree from Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, OR. Dr. Heller completed an internship in general surgery and a residency in neurological surgery at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, as well as a fellowship in epilepsy surgery through the Epilepsy and Brain Mapping Program at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, CA. His professional interests include surgical localization of and treatment of medically intractable epilepsy, extra-operative functional brain mapping utilizing implanted electrodes, computer navigated spinal instrumentation, and minimally invasive spine surgery.
Aaron Wagner, M.D.
Specialty: Radiation Oncology
Dr. Wagner, a board certified radiation oncologist, graduated magna cum laude in Chemical Engineering from the University of Idaho in 2005. He subsequently attended Loma Linda University School of Medicine where he received his MD and was granted various scholarships of distinction. He has completed four additional years of specialty training in Radiation Oncology at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital and University of Utah Medical Center where he was named Chief Resident after early advancement, in Radiation Oncology.
Dr. Wagner has actively pursued clinical research throughout his career. He has authored multiple scientific articles in top medical publications, including the Journal of Thoracic Cardiovascular Surgery and Gynecologic Oncology. Additionally, he has given various presentations and written a number of book chapters on modern radiation treatment and the use of radiotherapy in the care of patients with gynecologic, skin, central nervous system, and other bodily malignancies.
Stephen H. Thatcher, M.D.
Specialty: Radiation Oncology
Dr. Thatcher graduated from the Medical College of Wisconsin and then completed his radiation oncology residency at the University of Minnesota. He stayed on with University of Minnesota faculty and started the Minneapolis VA’s first stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) program. Dr. Thatcher has experience in Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), Gamma Knife radiosurgery, and brachytherapy for a broad range of cancer types. He has a special interest in SBRT and SRS treatment techniques. Dr. Thatcher has served as a leader in cooperative radiation trial selection and enrollment.
Kunal V. Shah, M.D.
Specialty: Neurosurgery
Location:
105 W 8th Ave #200
Spokane, WA 99204
509.624.9112
Dr. Shah is a board certified neurosurgeon at Inland Neurosurgery & Spine Associates. He completed his undergraduate education with a concentration in Neuroscience from Duke University in 2005, and obtained his M.D. from Wake Forest University in 2009. He then completed his internship and Neurosurgical residency at Wake Forest University Health Center, including extensive Gamma Knife training at one of the busiest radiosurgery institutes in the Southeast.
Dr. Shah’s clinical interests include the surgical and radiosurgical treatment of pituitary tumors, brain tumors, surgical treatment of brain and spinal tumors, and minimally invasive surgery.
Zachary Guss, M.D., MSc
Specialty: Radiation Oncology
Location:Deaconess Health and Education Bldg.
910 West 5th Ave, Suite 102b
Spokane, WA 99204
Zachary Guss, MD, MSc, is a radiation oncologist with expertise in advanced radiation techniques including stereotactic radiosurgery. He has published widely in science journals and presented his research in the United States and internationally, including multiple publications in stereotactic radiosurgery. In addition to receiving his MD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr. Guss earned an AB in Biology from Harvard University magna cum laude and Master of Science in Radiation Biology from the University of Oxford with Distinction. He completed his internal medicine internship at the Naval Medical Center San Diego. He completed his radiation oncology residency at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he received the Frank L. Coulson award for clinical excellence. He practices at the MultiCare Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, WA.
Corbin Jacobs, M.D.
Specialty: Radiation Oncology
Dr. Jacobs grew up in Washington and Idaho watching his mother valiantly battle colorectal cancer for 24 years. She is his inspiration for becoming an oncologist. He graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University. He subsequently attended UT Southwestern Medical Center where he graduated top of his class and received his MD with Distinction in Research. Dr. Jacobs later completed specialty training in Radiation Oncology at Duke University where he served as Chief Resident. During his training he received prestigious national and international awards.
Dr. Jacobs has co-authored peer-reviewed manuscripts for a variety of cancer sites including prostate, breast, lung, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecologic, brain, head and neck, and lymphoma. He is experienced in advanced radiation techniques including intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) using both Gamma Knife and linear accelerators for special treatments.
O. Kenneth Macdonald, M.D.
Specialty: Radiation Oncology
Dr. Macdonald is a board-certified Radiation Oncologist who completed his residency training at the University of Utah, Huntsman Cancer Center. He completed his medical school training at the University of Texas-Houston Medical Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas. Prior to medical school, he graduated with a B.S. with Honors in Biochemistry from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
Dr. Macdonald’s clinical career includes developing and implementing programs in brachytherapy and stereotactic radiation at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota where he was an assistant professor of Radiation Oncology. Following, he spent over a decade in Kansas City, with Therapeutic Radiologists, Inc, where he served as practice president, medical director, and Department Chair of Internal Medicine. He recently relocated to Spokane, WA in March, 2021, joining Cancer Care Northwest.
Dr. Macdonald’s clinical interests include stereotactic techniques both intra- and extra-cranially. He has extensive experience in applying these advanced technologies to treat primary and recurrent cancers throughout the body. He has published his experiences and techniques in a variety of professional journals and has presented his results at several national and international meetings. He has served on several committees within professional organizations and research groups.
William Schmitt, M.D.
Specialty: Otolaryngologist / Head and Neck Surgeon
217 W Cataldo Ave Ste 200
Spokane, WA 99201
Dr. William Schmitt is an Otolaryngologist – Head and Neck Surgeon – with expertise in disorders of the ear, temporal bone, and lateral skull base. Originally from the upper Midwest, undergraduate and medical school studies were completed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha honor societies. He was accepted into the Mayo Clinic – Rochester Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) residency training program, where he gained exposure to the entire spectrum of ENT. During his tenure, the department climbed the ranks of the U.S. News and World Report national rankings to its 2014 standing of #1 in America.
After graduation, he chose to undertake fellowship training in otology, neuro-otology, and lateral skull base surgery at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. While there, he studied an international range of techniques and took advantage of every opportunity to explore “the bottom of the earth!” Dr. Schmitt has authored several papers in the field of otology/neuro-otology, contributed to textbooks, presented research at national and international academic congresses, and given invited lectures. He enjoys participating in the rapidly evolving field of hearing restoration and seeks to deliver the most effective blend of time-tested techniques and cutting-edge technology to his patients.
Dr. Schmitt has experience serving the Inland Northwest, participating as a committee or board member with Columbia Surgical Specialists, Providence, MultiCare, and the HOPE School for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children. When delivering care, he often collaborates with broad teams of physicians and providers, including neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, neuroradiologists, interventional radiologists, audiologists, vestibular therapists, speech therapists, teachers of the deaf, and hearing instrument dispensers.
Bryan J. Ager, M.D.
Specialty: Radiation Oncology
Dr. Ager was raised in Spokane and has deep roots in the community. Having experienced the painful loss of his father to cancer in 2013, Dr. Ager has a personal connection with his patients and is passionate about cancer care.
Dr. Ager graduated magna cum laude from Western Washington University with a degree in Biochemistry. He subsequently received his MD from the University of Texas Medical Branch where he graduated top of his class. Dr. Ager later completed specialty training in Radiation Oncology at the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah. Over the course of his training and career, he has given multiple presentations and published peer-reviewed articles across a variety of cancer types.
Dr. Ager is experienced in an array of advanced radiation techniques including, but not limited to, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), low-dose rate (LDR) and high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy, and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT).
Eric Reynolds, CNA
Barton 'Bo' Cooke, Managing Partner
Bo is the operations director for Gamma Knife Spokane. Responsible for all business aspects of the center, he manages financial, legal, operational structure, compliance, physician/hospital/patient relations, teleradiation, insurance compliance and most importantly, brings baked goods on treatment days. His education in natural sciences/pre-med and stints in teaching and health care product sales and marketing for Procter and Gamble have given him the background required for the position. Bo also served as research liaison between universities and P&G, was a member of a mergers and acquisition team with Rubbermaid and Newell Companies and was a founder of a software company that focused on media delivery systems.