I am a surgical oncologist who specializes in treating men and women with diseases of the liver, bile duct, gallbladder, and pancreas. Since joining the Memorial Sloan-Kettering faculty in 1999, I have been part of a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, gastroenterologists, interventional radiologists, medical oncologists, nurse practitioners, and specialty nurses who care for patients with these cancers.
As Head of Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s Division of General Surgical Oncology, I oversee the Hepatopancreatobiliary, Colorectal, and Gastric and Mixed Tumor services in the Department of Surgery. We are committed to providing the highest level of surgical care for patients with cancer and routinely perform complex surgical procedures to remove tumors in these organs.
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My clinical research has focused on liver, bile duct, gallbladder, and pancreas cancers. In addition, I have led several national trials testing the benefit of imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) following surgery for gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), a tumor that usually begins in the stomach or intestine. To help patients and their families better understand these complicated diseases, I co-authored two books — “100 Questions & Answers About Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST” and “100 Questions & Answers About Liver Cancer”.
In the laboratory my colleagues and I study the immune environment of the liver and tumor immunology. We are working to develop immune therapies to help prevent tumors from returning after surgery. Our research has been supported by several grants from the National Institutes of Health and generous gifts from patients and philanthropic foundations.