Murray F. Brennan, MD, FACS -- Vice President for International Programs; Benno C. Schmidt Chair in Clinical Oncology

Sir Murray F. Brennan, GNZM, MD, FACS

Surgeon

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Soft tissue sarcomas
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Dr. Brennan's Office Information
Languages: English
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Get to Know Me

Dr. Murray Brennan is an oncologic surgeon scientist. He was Chair of the Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center from 1985 to June 2006, and served as Vice President of International Programs and Director of the Bobst International Center from 2010 to 2018.

Dr. Brennan is currently Senior Vice President of International Programs.

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He has lectured throughout the world and authored or co-authored more than 1,100 scientific papers and book chapters, and three books on soft tissue sarcoma. He has served as Director of the American Board of Surgery, Vice President of the American College of Surgeons, Chairman of the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, and President of the Society of Surgical Oncology, the James IVth Association, the Society of Clinical Surgery, the International Gastric Cancer Association, and the American Surgical Association.  He has been awarded Honorary Fellowships in the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, of England, and in Ireland, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and Canada. Dr. Brennan has received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Edinburgh, Otago, and Goteborg and University College of London. In 1995, Dr. Brennan was honored with membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences; in 2000 he received the American College of Surgeons’ highest award, the Distinguished Service Award. In January 2015 he was appointed by Her Majesty The Queen as Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

What I Do at MSK

I'm a surgeon, which is a doctor with special training in many types of surgery.

  • Benno C. Schmidt Chair of Clinical Oncology
  • Chairman Emeritus, Department of Surgery
Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Soft tissue sarcomas
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, University of Otago

Residencies

  • Surgery - Peter Bent Brigham Hospital

Fellowships

  • Surgery - Peter Bent Brigham Hospital

Board Certifications

  • Surgery

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Contact and Location

Dr. Brennan sees patients at one location.

Office Phone
Location
New York, NY
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Avenue New York NY 10065
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Research and Publications

Books
Management of Soft Tissue Sarcoma. Brennan MF, Antonescu CR, Maki RG, eds. New York: Springer; 2012.

Diagnosis and Management of Soft Tissue Sarcoma. Brennan MF, Lewis JJ, eds. London: Martin Dunitz; 1997.

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Protein and Amino Acid Metabolism in Cancer Cachexia. Pisters WPT, Brennan MF eds. Austin, TX: RG Landes; 1996.

Tumor Board Case Management. Winchester D, Brennan MF, Dodd G, Henson DE, Kennedy BJ, Steele GD Jr,  Wilson F, eds. Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven; 1997.

Surgical Management of Soft Tissue Sarcoma. Shiu MH, Brennan MF, eds. Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger; 1989.

Selected Book Chapters
“Adrenocortical tumors and incidentalomas.” Karanicolas P, Brennan MF. In: Surgery: Evidence-Based Practice. Cohn SM, Brower ST, eds. Shelton, CT: People’s Medical Publishing House; 2012: 537-543.

“Total gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma.” Brennan MF. In: Mastery of Surgery. 6th ed.  JE Fischer, ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2012: 1058-1067.

“Surgical management of soft tissue sarcoma in the geriatric population.” Ariyan C, Brennan M. In: Principles and Practice of Geriatric Surgery. 2nd ed. Rosenthal RA, Zenilman MA, Katlic MR, eds. New York: Springer; 2011: 1245-1256.

“The Kausch-Whipple pancreatectomy.” Ferrone CR, Brennan MF. In: Diseases of the Pancreas: Current Surgical Therapy. Beger JHG, Matsuno S, Cameron J, eds. Berlin: Springer; 2008: 567-580.

“Soft tissue sarcoma.” Brennan MF, Singer S, Maki R, O’Sullivan B. In: Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology. 8th ed. Devita VT, Lawrence TS, Rosenberg SA, eds. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2008: 1741-1794.

“Gastric adenocarcinoma.” Brennan MF. In: Maingot’s Abdominal Operations. 11th ed. Zinner MJ, Ashley SW, eds. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2007: 417-437.

“Collaborative opportunities in disease-based care.” Cohn KH, Brennan MF. In: Collaborate for Success! Breakthrough Strategies for Engaging Physicians, Nurses, and Hospital Executives. Chicago: Health Administration Press; 2006: 99-105.

“Soft tissue sarcoma.” Brennan MF, Singer S, Maki R, O’Sullivan B. In: Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology. 7th ed. DeVita VT, Hellman S, Rosenberg SA, eds. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006: 1581-1637.

“Retroperitoneal mass.” Eilber FC, Brennan MF. In: Surgical Decision Making. 5th ed. McIntyre RC Jr, Stiegmann GV, Eiseman B, eds. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2004: 282-283.

“Adrenal cortical carcinoma.” Schulick R, Brennan MF. In: Renal and Adrenal Tumors:  Biology and Management. Belidegrun A, Vaughn ED Jr, eds. New York: Oxford University Press; 2003: 543-549

“Total gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma.” Brennan MF. In: Mastery of Surgery. 6th ed.  JE Fischer, ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2012: 1058-1067.

“Surgical management of soft tissue sarcoma in the geriatric population.” Ariyan C, Brennan M. In: Principles and Practice of Geriatric Surgery. 2nd ed. Rosenthal RA, Zenilman MA, Katlic MR, eds. New York: Springer; 2011: 1245-1256.

“The Kausch-Whipple pancreatectomy.” Ferrone CR, Brennan MF. In: Diseases of the Pancreas: Current Surgical Therapy. Beger JHG, Matsuno S, Cameron J, eds. Berlin: Springer; 2008: 567-580.

“Soft tissue sarcoma.” Brennan MF, Singer S, Maki R, O’Sullivan B. In: Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology. 8th ed. Devita VT, Lawrence TS, Rosenberg SA, eds. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2008: 1741-1794.

“Gastric adenocarcinoma.” Brennan MF. In: Maingot’s Abdominal Operations. 11th ed. Zinner MJ, Ashley SW, eds. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2007: 417-437.

“Collaborative opportunities in disease-based care.” Cohn KH, Brennan MF. In: Collaborate for Success! Breakthrough Strategies for Engaging Physicians, Nurses, and Hospital Executives. Chicago: Health Administration Press; 2006: 99-105.

“Soft tissue sarcoma.” Brennan MF, Singer S, Maki R, O’Sullivan B. In: Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology. 7th ed. DeVita VT, Hellman S, Rosenberg SA, eds. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006: 1581-1637.

“Retroperitoneal mass.” Eilber FC, Brennan MF. In: Surgical Decision Making. 5th ed. McIntyre RC Jr, Stiegmann GV, Eiseman B, eds. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2004: 282-283.

“Adrenal cortical carcinoma.” Schulick R, Brennan MF. In: Renal and Adrenal Tumors:  Biology and Management. Belidegrun A, Vaughn ED Jr, eds. New York: Oxford University Press; 2003: 543-549

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Brennan’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

See all on PubMed

Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Sir Murray F. Brennan discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • de Beaumont Foundation
    Fiduciary Role / Position
  • Kazia Therapeutics Limited
    Equity

If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].


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