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Dr. S. Machele Donat

S. Machele Donat, MD, FACS

Urologic Surgeon

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Bladder cancer
  • Kidney (renal cell) cancer and conditions
  • Urethral and penile cancers and conditions

My Specialties

  • Urinary diversion
  • Urinary reconstruction
  • Nerve-sparing surgery
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Dr. Donat's Office Information
Languages: English
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Get to Know Me

I am a board-certified urologic surgeon with expertise in treating patients with cancers of the urinary tract, including bladder, urethral, kidney, testis, prostate cancer, and rare cancers such as urethral cancer or genitourinary sarcomas.

This provider is part of a team that was ranked #1 in the nation for Urology Cancer Care this year by U.S. News & World Report.
Read more

When treating patients with superficial bladder cancer, I use conservative therapies and preventive approaches whenever possible. For patients with invasive bladder cancer, I have extensive experience in bladder-sparing surgery, and often use nerve-sparing techniques, which can help preserve sexual and urinary function.

Some patients require an operation to remove the bladder (cystectomy), and I have expertise in urinary reconstructive techniques such as continent urethral diversion (neobladder), in which a new bladder is constructed from a segment of the intestine and connected to the urethra; continent stomal diversion, in which a segment of intestine is used to form a catheterizable pouch; and ileal conduits, in which a segment of the small intestine is used to create a channel through which urine is drained to the skin and into a collection bag.

For patients with kidney cancer, it is often important to preserve kidney function because many have a pre-existing kidney disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes. Whenever possible, I also perform kidney-sparing surgery in patients with renal cell cancers to preserve their renal function, and I am involved in research studies at Memorial Sloan Kettering evaluating ablative therapies, which use heat or cold to destroy tumor cells.

In addition, I am involved in a number of research studies, some of which are examining the role that heredity plays in tumor recurrence and progression in certain forms of bladder cancer. I am also helping to establish a registry of familial and atypical bladder and upper urinary tract cancers at Memorial Sloan Kettering. I am evaluating the effectiveness of several new imaging approaches for diagnosing genitourinary cancers as well as a blood test for detecting metastatic bladder cancer, and I am helping design the protocols that will guide the Center’s acquisition and preservation of tissue, blood, and urine samples; these may be used in future studies on the prevention and treatment of genitourinary cancers. I am also a leader in research studies looking at our ability to minimize postoperative complications, shorten hospital stays for all our major surgical operations, and improve patients’ quality of life following treatment for their genitourinary cancer.

What I Do at MSK

A urologic surgeon is a doctor with special training in surgery on the genitourinary (jeh-nih-toh-YOOR-ih-nayr-ee) (GU) system. This includes the bladder, kidney, penis, prostate, and testicles.

  • Attending Surgeon
Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Bladder cancer
  • Kidney (renal cell) cancer and conditions
  • Urethral and penile cancers and conditions
  • Testicular cancer
  • Prostate cancer and conditions
  • Genitourinary cancers and conditions

My Specialties

  • Urinary diversion
  • Urinary reconstruction
  • Nerve-sparing surgery
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center

Residencies

  • University of Oklahoma Health Science Center

Fellowships

  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Board Certifications

  • Urology

Insurance Information

Understanding your insurance options is an important part of managing your cancer care. We have relationships with many common healthcare providers and plans.

Aetna

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO PPO, POS, Transplant

Aetna Medicare Advantage (MTA and NYC retirees only)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

Anthem BCBS and other BCBS licensee plans

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

See updates

Anthem BCBS Health Plus

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

See updates

Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, PPO

See updates

Blue Cross Blue Shield states outside of NY/NJ

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO PPO, POS

See updates

Carrum Health

In Network Coverage Type
Supplemental

Cigna

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Connecticare

In Network Coverage Type
POS, EPO, HMO

First Health

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

Straight NJ Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Straight NY Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Emblem

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Emblem to learn more.

Emblem Essential

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Emblem Medicare Advantage (Medicare Choice PPO Network and VIP Prime Network Only)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

Empire Essential

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Empire Plan / NYSHIP (Blue Cross/UnitedHealthcare split plan)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

See updates

Fidelis

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Fidelis to learn more.

Fidelis Managed Medicaid & HARP

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Fidelis Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Healthfirst

In Network Coverage Type
EPO, HMO, PPO, POS

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Healthfirst to learn more.

Healthfirst Managed Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Healthfirst Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, PPO

Healthsmart

In Network Coverage Type
PPO EPO

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (HMO)

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (PPO)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier I (EPO)

In Network Coverage Type
EPO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier II (EPO)

In Network Coverage Type
EPO

See updates

Horizon Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

Husky CT Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Magnacare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO

Medicare Part A&B (traditional Medicare)

In Network Coverage Type
Federal Government

Metroplus

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

City Employee Health Plans (Gold and Gold Care)

Multiplan/Beech Street/PHCS

In Network Coverage Type
Supplemental

MVP

In Network Coverage Type
PPO/OAP

Non-Participating Plans with Out of Network Benefits

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

NYC Medicare Advantage Plus for City Employees

In Network Coverage Type
TBD

Oscar

In Network Coverage Type
HMO/EPO

Oxford

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, EPO

World Trade Center Health Program (WTC)

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Qualcare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Tricare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

UMR

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS

United Healthcare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Don't see your carrier or plan? We can help you understand your coverage.

If you don't have health insurance or are worried that your care may not be fully covered, our financial assistance programs may be able to help.

If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.

Make an Appointment

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Contact and Location

Dr. Donat sees patients at one location.

Office Phone
Location
New York, NY
David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
530 East 74th Street New York NY 10021
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Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

See all Urology Service doctors

Clinical Trials

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Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

Search clinical trials

Research and Publications

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Donat’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.

S. Machele Donat discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

No disclosures meeting criteria for time period


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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