Dr. Paul H. Sugarbaker

Gastrointestinal Surgical Oncologist

Washington Cancer Institute

106 Irving Street NW, Suite 3900
Washington, DC 20010
(202) 877-3908

Wheaton College - 1963

Cornell University Medical College - 1967

Bent Brigham Hospital

Massachusetts General Hospital

Overview

Dr. Paul H. Sugarbaker, a gastrointestinal surgical oncologist, is currently serving as the Director of Surgical Oncology at the Washington Cancer Institute. The prestigious institute is located in the Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C.

Educational Background

He began his career by earning his Bachelor's degree from Wheaton College in Illinois and then went on to attend medical school at Cornell University Medical College. He completed his Surgical Residency Program at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston and was named Surgical Chief Resident in his final year. Dr. Sugarbaker completed his fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boson, and later earned a M.A. degree in Immunology from Harvard University.

Professional Highlights

After receiving his master's degree, Dr. Sugarbaker worked as a Research Trainee in Basic Surgical Sciences at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. He then left Boston to work as a Senior Investigator and then as Head of the Colorectal Cancer Section in the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
Dr. Sugarbaker has also served as the Director of Surgical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine, as well as the Medical Director at Washington Cancer Institute at Washington Hospital Center in the nation's capital. He has held his current position as the Director of Surgical Oncology since 1993.
Currently, he specializes in the treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma by using a combination of cytoreductive surgery with intraperitoneal and systemic chemotherapy. He is also involved in the study of rare diseases such as pseudomyxoma peritonei, peritoneal mesothelioma, abdominal sarcomas, and peritoneal carcinomatosis.

Clinical Research

Dr. Sugarbaker has published more than 780 scientific and scholarly articles, books, and reports. His textbook on sarcoma surgery was translated into five languages. He also co-authored "Update on Chemotherapeutic Agents Utilized for Perioperative Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy" that was published in The Oncologist.

Awards and Affiliations

Dr. Sugarbaker is board certified and serves on a number of medical societies. He is the founding member of the International Society of Regional Cancer Therapy and part of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Surgical Oncology. He also belongs to the American College of Surgeons and is a member of University Surgeons.
Finally, Dr. Sugarbaker created the Foundation for Applied Research in Gastrointestinal Oncology (FARGO) in 1993. The non-profit organization was developed to promote research, education and patient care in gastrointestinal oncology. The goal is to transfer research in science into innovations in caring for patients. FARGO provides financial and administrative support as well as space for making progress for the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal cancer.
Dr. Sugarbaker has won a number of awards including the E. T. Krementz Award for the best research development in 1997 as well as the Distinguished Service Award by the American Society of Abdominal Surgeons in May 2001. He continues to serve on four different editorial boards.