Surgery News & Notes

January 11, 2018January 11, 2018

Welcoming New Faculty – Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, PhD

Please join us in welcoming Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, PhD, as a new faculty member in the Department of Surgery.

Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, PhD

Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, PhD
Rob and Karen Hale Distinguished Chair in Surgical Oncology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Director of Surgical Research, Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DF/BWCC) Breast Program
Director, Breast Immuno-Oncology Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Co-Director, Breast Cancer Clinical Research Program, Breast Oncology Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Member of the Faculty, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Elizabeth A. Mittendorf is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, OH where she also completed a residency in General Surgery. After completing her residency, she served on active duty in the United States military before completing a fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. Dr. Mittendorf also holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston.

Prior to joining Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Dr. Mittendorf was a professor in the Department of Breast Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. She joined the faculty at MD Anderson in 2008.

Dr. Mittendorf is board certified by the America Board of Surgery. She maintains a busy clinical practice and oversees a portfolio of clinical trials as well as a basic laboratory effort.

She is principal investigator on a number of clinical protocols including the phase III PRESENT (Prevention of Recurrence in Early-Stage, Node-Positive Breast Cancer with Low to Intermediate HER2 Expression with NeuVax Treatment) study, and a multicenter phase II trial investigating the efficacy of a CD8+ T cell eliciting vaccine in combination with trastuzumab which is based on preclinical data generated in her laboratory and follows a phase I trial she conducted demonstrating the combination to be safe. This trial is supported by a Breakthrough Award from the Department of Defense (DoD).

Dr. Mittendorf is also the principal investigator on a multi-center trial supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) evaluating the impact of vaccination in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ, a trial evaluating the impact of preoperative radiation therapy on the immune response in breast tumors, as well as two investigator initiated studies evaluating immune checkpoint blockade administered in the presurgical setting to breast cancer patients.

Her laboratory work is focused on identifying novel tumor antigens and investigating aspects of the tumor microenvironment that impact the response to immunotherapy. Specifically, she is investigating mutations in the ESR1 gene as targets for vaccination as well as the impact of standard therapies on the immune microenvironment with the goal of informing rational clinical trials evaluating the addition of immunotherapy to treatment regimens for breast cancer patients. This work is supported by the Komen for the Cure Foundation and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.

November 27, 2017November 27, 2017

Department of Surgery Faculty Among Boston’s “Top Docs” 2017

Boston Magazine’s 2017 “Top Doctors” issue recognizes 48 Department of Surgery faculty members this year. Congratulations to the following providers for being recognized as “tops” in their respective fields:

Donald J. Annino Jr., MD – Otolaryngology

Stanley W. Ashley, MD – Surgery

Michael Belkin, MD – Vascular Surgery

Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD – Surgery

Neil Bhattacharyya, MD – Otolaryngology

Ronald Bleday, MD – Colon & Rectal Surgery

Raphael Bueno, MD – Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery

Katherina Zabicki Calvillo, MD – Surgery

Phillip C. Camp Jr., MD – Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery

Matthew J. Carty, MD – Plastic Surgery

Stephanie A. Caterson, MD – Plastic Surgery

Steven Lee Chang, MD – Urology

Yoon Sun Chun, MD – Plastic Surgery

Yolonda L. Colson, MD – Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery

Christian H. Corwin, MD – Colon & Rectal Surgery

Gerard M. Doherty, MD – Surgery

Christopher Ducko, MD – Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery

Margaret M. Duggan, MD – Surgery

Atul A. Gawande, MD – Surgery

Joel E. Goldberg, MD – Colon & Rectal Surgery

Mehra Golshan, MD – Surgery

Charles A. Hergrueter, MD – Plastic Surgery

Pardon R. Kenney, MD – Surgery

Adam S. Kibel, MD – Urology

Tari A. King, MD – Surgery

Sayeed K. Malek, MD – Surgery

Hari R. Mallidi, MD – Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery

Michael J. Malone, MD – Urology

Matthew T. Menard, MD – Vascular Surgery

Steven J. Mentzer, MD – Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery

Francis D. Moore Jr., MD – Surgery

Faina Nakhlis, MD – Surgery

Michael P. O’Leary, MD – Urology

Dennis P. Orgill, MD – Plastic Surgery

Charles K. Ozaki, MD – Vascular Surgery

Bohdan Pomahac, MD – Plastic Surgery

Chandrajit P. Raut, MD – Surgery

Esther Rhei, MD – Surgery

Christian E. Sampson, MD – Hand Surgery

Jo Shapiro, MD – Otolaryngology

Scott A. Shikora, MD – Surgery

Douglas Smink, MD – Surgery

Graeme S. Steele, MD – Urology

Scott J. Swanson, MD – Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery

Simon G. Talbot, MD – Plastic Surgery

Ashley H. Vernon, MD – Surgery

Jon O. Wee, MD – Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery

Daniel C. Wiener, MD – Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery

November 20, 2017November 20, 2017

Recent Faculty Promotions

The following Department of Surgery faculty members were recently promoted:

Jairam R. Eswara, MD

Jairam R. Eswara, MD, of the Division of Urology to assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School.

Jennifer L. Irani, MD

Jennifer L. Irani, MD, of the Division of General and Gastrointestinal Surgery to assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School.

Gita Mody, MD, MPH

Gita Mody, MD, MPH, of the Division of Thoracic Surgery to assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School.

Matthew A. Nehs, MD

Matthew A. Nehs, MD, of the Division of General and Gastrointestinal Surgery to assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School.