Nabil Pierre Rizk, MD, FACS

I am a general thoracic surgeon who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of thoracic cancers, including lung cancer, esophageal cancer, pulmonary metastases, mediastinal tumors, thymomas, and pleural mesothelioma. I have special interests in esophageal cancer surgery, lung cancer surgery, minimally invasive esophageal and lung surgery, and minimally invasive esophageal cancer and lung cancer diagnostic and staging procedures including endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), and laparoscopy.

My primary research interest is in evaluating esophageal cancer treatment outcomes. As the director of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Esophagus Cancer Database, I have investigated questions which will allow clinicians to better tailor the treatment of esophageal cancer. This includes refining the staging of esophagus cancer by PET scan and EUS, better defining the pathologic staging of esophagus cancer, and evaluating the results of various surgical alternatives for esophageal cancer. In the laboratory, my focus is on improving molecular means of predicting treatment response in esophageal cancer, as well as investigating new technologies in animal models which might make esophageal cancer surgery safer and less invasive.