Demystifying Scientific Breakthroughs

Raja M. Flores, MD
The Mount Sinai Medical Center

Dr. Raja M. Flores is the Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery, Ames Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at The Mount Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Flores’ is a recognized leader in the field of Thoracic Surgery for his pioneering efforts in the treatment of mesothelioma. He has established VATS lobectomy, a minimally invasive approach using three small incisions, as the gold standard in the surgical treatment of lung cancer.  He published two sentinel studies validating its oncological effectiveness by demonstrating equivalent survival and recurrence rates with fewer complications and shorter hospital stays when compared to standard thoracotomy.  Dr. Flores implemented the current program for this procedure at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He was a lead investigator in a multicenter trial of neoadjuvant alimta/cisplatin, extrapleural pneumonectomy, and high-dose radiation which is designed to improve outcomes.  Dr. Flores currently has one of the largest VATS lobectomy experiences in the world. He is in the process of publishing, and has presented this data at the 90th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.

Dr. Flores’ additional research interests are based on numerous past projects relating to the multimodality management of malignant pleural mesothelioma, as well as innovative surgical techniques in minimally invasive thoracic surgery for lung cancer. He has led a number of major studies, including clinical trials of neoadjuvant gemcitabine and cisplatin followed by extrapleural pneumonectomy and high dose radiation.
After earning an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from New York University, Dr. Flores attended the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, receiving his Medical Degree in 1992. He then spent five years at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center pursuing his General Surgery Internship and General Surgery Residency. He then completed a Thoracic Oncology Clinical Research Fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Dana Faber Cancer Institute/CALGB in Boston, and his Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He also received a Masters in Biostatistics from Columbia University.  Dr. Flores is a member of numerous medical and surgical societies and serves on several editorial boards. 

Steven M. Hahn, MD
University of Pennsylvania – Perelman School of Medicine

Dr. Hahn obtained his MD degree with honors from Temple University in Philadelphia and then trained first in Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, where he was Chief Resident in 1987-88.  Dr. Hahn completed a Medical Oncology training program at the National Cancer Institute. He is board certified Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology and Radiation Oncology. Dr. Hahn joined the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine in 1996 as an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology.  He was promoted to full Professor and became Chairman of the Department in August 2005. 
Dr. Hahn’s clinical expertise’s are in the areas of lung cancer, mesothelioma, prostate cancer and soft tissue sarcoma.  Due to his remarkable background in internal medicine, medical oncology and radiation oncology, Dr. Hahn has an extraordinary breadth and depth of view, and is sought after for referrals on cases by physicians throughout the Philadelphia region. 

Harvey I. Pass, MD
New York University

Harvey I. Pass, MD, is the Stephen E. Banner Professor of Thoracic Oncology, Vice Chairman, Research, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Director, Division of Thoracic Surgery and Thoracic Oncology for the NYU Langone Medical Center and School of Medicine. Dr. Pass received his undergraduate education from Johns Hopkins University and graduated from Duke University Medical School. He trained in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. He was a Senior Staff Fellow in the Thoracic Oncology Section at the National Cancer Institute/NHI in Bethesda, MD from 1983 to 1986 and became Head of Thoracic Oncology at NCI from 1986 to 1996. Before moving to New York, he was Professor of Surgery and Oncology for Wayne State University and the Karmanos Cancer Institute. Dr. Pass has been continuously funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, or the CDC since 1998, and has co-authored over 380 original reports. He has edited four editions of Lung Cancer: Principles and Practice. Dr. Pass has received the NIH Directors Award, the Presidents Award for Clinical Research at Karmanos Cancer Institute, the Wagner Medal from the International Mesothelioma Interest Group, the Landon Award for International Science from the AACR, and the Pioneer Award from the Meso Foundation. He has been a Board Member of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, the International Mesothelioma Interest Group, the Addario Foundation, and the Lung Cancer Alliance. Dr. Pass has been recognized as an America’s Top Doctor and Best Cancer Doctor by Castle Connoly’s Guide for the last 10 years.

Daniel Sterman, MD
University of Pennsylvania Medical Center

Dr. Sterman is currently Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Professor of Medicine in Surgery, and the Director of the PENN Interventional Pulmonology Program and Clinical Director of the Thoracic Oncology Gene Therapy Program of the Center for Lung Cancer and Related Disorders of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. His clinical interests are related to the treatment of thoracic malignancies, specifically as they apply to the synergy of molecular medicine and novel technologies in Interventional Pulmonology. His research interests are in the translation of laboratory discoveries from the bench to the bedside: conducting human clinical trials of gene therapy and vaccine therapy for lung cancer, mesothelioma, and other pleural malignancies.

David J. Sugarbaker, MD
Brigham & Women’s Hospital

David J. Sugarbaker is the Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgical Oncology at Harvard Medical School, the Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Philip E. Lowe Senior at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Sugarbaker attended Wheaton College in Wheaton Illinois and then went on to attend Cornell University Medical College in New York. He completed his residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and his cardiothoracic training at the Toronto General Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada. Following his training in Toronto in 1988, Dr. Sugarbaker return to the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston appointed as Chief of the newly formed Division of Thoracic Surgery.

The Division of Thoracic Surgery has grown to one of the largest in the nation performing over 3700 cases/year with 14 staff surgeons and 3 research associates. Dr. Sugarbaker pioneered the technique of extrapleural pneumonectomy and its application to patients with mesothelioma. He has developed innovative multimodality therapies and directed translation research programs in this disease that are known worldwide. He is Founder and Director of the International Pleural Mesothelioma Program at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. During Dr. Sugarbaker’s tenure at the Harvard Medical School, he has had the opportunity of mentoring many residents both in the General Surgery Program and the Cardiothoracic Program. Dr. Sugarbaker is well known both on a national and international level. He travels extensively being invited to lecture at various hospitals, society and association meetings here in the United States, Europe, Japan, China and Australia. Dr. Sugarbaker has published extensively in all the top journals and textbooks.