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When mesothelioma cases began to skyrocket during the last half of the 20th Century, the medical profession reacted by dramatically increasing research into this type of cancer. New drugs were developed, better methods of treating the disease with radiation therapy were found, and surgeons and oncologists launched major research projects to understand the disease and find the most effective ways to treat it. Some doctors chose to make mesothelioma the primary focus of their careers. One such physician is Dr. David J. Sugarbaker.
Dr. Sugarbaker is the Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and the Richard Wilson Professor of Surgical Oncology at Harvard Medical School. Board certified in both surgery and thoracic surgery, Dr. Sugarbaker has made pleural mesothelioma the central focus of his clinical and research practice.
He earned his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in 1979, then interned in surgery at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. He was a junior resident at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, and then Senior Resident at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He then moved to the Toronto General Hospital, where he was chief resident in thoracic surgery followed by chief resident in cardiac surgery. Dr. Sugarbaker was also a surgical resident at the Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto. Afterwards, he was a Research Fellow in Gastroenterology at the Charles A. Dana Research Institute and the Harvard Thorndyke Laboratory, Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School. This was followed by a stint as an Arthur Tracey Cabot Fellow in Surgery, Assistant to the Chief of Surgery, Chief Resident Surgeon, at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Dr. Sugarbaker has been actively involved in several research projects involving malignant pleural mesothelioma. A three-pronged attack utilizing extrapleural pneumonectomy, adjuvant chemotherapy, and radiation therapy was developed and evaluated in patients. Evaluation revealed improved overall survivability, and led to the staging system that is currently used.
He has helped to implement several different programs at Brigham and Women's Hospital, such as the Brigham Lung Transplant Program, the Lung Volume Reduction Program, and the Division of Thoracic Surgery. He has also helped to develop new minimally invasive surgical procedures.
Dr. Sugarbaker has conducted research on prognostic factors for patients with Stage 1 non-small cell cancers. Surgery is the traditional treatment for these patients, but many have recurrent diseases. Markers to identify the molecular and pathologic prognostic markers can indicate which patients will most benefit from adjuvant therapy.
He also serves as the co-director and operations chair of Brigham and Women's Hospital's Tissue and Blood Repository. Research projects seek to determine the role of simian virus 40, which was once a component of polio vaccine, in mesothelioma. This has led to several collaborative projects, including an evaluation of the detection of simian virus 40 DNA in mesothelioma and genetic work on malignant pleural mesothelioma.
He is affiliated with seven hospitals in Massachusetts. They are:
Dr. Sugarbaker has been named one of America's Top Doctors by Castle Connolly for the years 2002 through 2009 and one of America's Top Doctors for Cancer for 2005 through 2007, also by Castle Connolly. He also received the Patients' Choice Award in 2008 and 2009.
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