After a 40-year career in clinical care, teaching and clinical research, Dr. Daniel Coit retired from his active role in the Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in 2025. He now serves as an Emeritus member at MSK.
Dr. Coit received his undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree at Yale university in 1971, before completing his MD degree at the University of Cincinnati, graduating Alpha Omega Alpha in 1976. He completed his surgical residency at the New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston in 1983. He then finished his training in the surgical oncology fellowship at MSK, named as chief administrative fellow in his second year. Following fellowship, he joined the MSK surgical faculty in 1985 as a member of the Gastric and Mixed Tumor Service, rising to chief of the service from 1997 to 2003.
His clinical and research interests focused primarily on complex cutaneous malignancies and gastric cancer. The unifying theme of his career has been that a thorough understanding of a given cancer’s biology should inform a more rational evidence-based treatment paradigm, often leading to treatment de-escalation without compromising end results.
His commitment to superb clinical care was recognized with receipt of the highly coveted institutional Willet Whitmore award for clinical excellence in 1994. He served as a co-leader of both the Melanoma and Gastric Disease Management Teams at MSK. He has authored or co-authored over 300 peer-reviewed manuscripts, largely on those disease topics, in addition to countless reviews and book chapters.
His commitment to rigorous research included lengthy terms on both the MSK IRB and Research Council, and continuous experience in journal peer-review. He has lectured extensively, both nationally and internationally.
Throughout his career, Dr. Coit has had a profound interest in fellowship training, serving as Director of MSK Surgical Education from 1991 to 1997, and chairing the Training Committee of the Society of Surgical Oncology, helping to shape rigorous, multidisciplinary, clinical and research-focused national surgical oncology training standards.
His commitment to teaching was recognized by being named as departmental Teacher of the Year on an unprecedented three occasions. He has been intimately involved in the training of over 250 surgical oncology fellows, many of whom are now national and international leaders in their respective fields.
Dr. Coit’s influence extended nationally through his service as President of the Society of Surgical Oncology, leadership roles within the American College of Surgeons, advisory service to the American Board of Surgery and the National Cancer Institute, membership on the American Joint Committee on Cancer’s melanoma and gastric cancer staging committees, and 15 years chairing the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s Melanoma Committee.
Dr. Coit looks forward to the opportunity to remain engaged in the surgical fellowship training program in the years ahead.