Chief, Division of Thoracic Surgery Program, Memorial Healthcare System

I am a thoracic surgeon at Memorial Cancer Institute and chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery for Memorial Healthcare System.

Pursuing a career as a surgeon was a natural choice for me, as I was always fascinated by science and loved tinkering with things to understand how they worked and how to fix them. Surgery is a very concrete field where we are faced with a problem, and I can use my technical skills in combination with my understanding of physiology to make things better.

I received my undergraduate and medical education at Yale University, and then pursued training in general surgery at the University of Chicago. I then served for several years as a fellow in surgical oncology at the National Cancer Institute before training in thoracic surgery at Washington University in St. Louis. Following training, I practiced general thoracic surgery as an assistant professor of surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, and then at the Medical University of South Carolina, where I was also the director of the Thoracic Oncology Working Group. I joined the team at Memorial 17 years ago.

As a doctor, I believe that developing a repertoire and relationship with patients is a critical component of achieving good outcomes. When patients trust in the care they are receiving, they can recover more quickly and have confidence that they are receiving the best care possible. I’m very proud of the care and treatment our thoracic surgery program provides, from the personalized attention and compassionate support that our staff gives to every patient, to the expert care we provide with the benefit of state-of-the-art resources at MCI. We are all committed to helping you get the best outcome.

In addition to caring for patients, I’m also involved in several medical organizations, have published more than 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and am actively engaged in research collaborations with colleagues at Florida Atlantic University. I’ve also been an invited contributor to several authoritative textbooks on thoracic surgery. 

Hospital Affiliations

• Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital
• Memorial Hospital Miramar
• Memorial Hospital Pembroke
• Memorial Hospital West
• Memorial Regional Hospital

Gender

• Male

Education

Yale University School Of Medicine, 1987

Residency

Barnes-Jewish Hospital, 1997, Thoracic Surgery
National Cancer Institute, 1993, Surgical Oncology
University Of Chicago Hospitals, 1990, Surgery

Fellowships

Certifications

American Board of Thoracic Surgery-Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery

Publications

Professional Organizations

• American College of Chest Physicians
• American College of Surgeons, South Florida Chapter
• Florida Medical Association
• Southern Thoracic Surgical Association
• Association for Academic Surgery
• General Thoracic Surgical Club
• American Society for Clinical Oncology
• American Association for Cancer Research
• Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
• American Association of Immunologists
• American Cancer Society
• Society of Thoracic Surgeons
• American College of Surgeons
• American Association for the Advancement of Science

Presentations

• “Surgical Options: How Far Have We Come?”, Gilda’s Club Annual Cancer Symposium, 2009
• “Endoscopic Ultrasound for Diagnosis and Staging of the Mediastinum,” Hospitalist Grand Rounds, Memorial Regional Hospital, 2009
• “Pleural Effusions After Cardiac Surgey,” Cardiovascular Institute Symposium, 2009

Awards

• MUSC “Applause” Award for Patient Care
• Alley-Sheridan Educational Scholarship, Kennedy School of Government
• Resident Award, Best Research Paper, Society of Surgical Oncology
• Travel Grant Recipient, Society of Surgical Oncology
• Armand Hammer Travel Award, Society of Surgical Oncology