An Interview with Dr. Yeo

Dr. Charles J. Yeo (Samuel D. Gross Professor and Chair of Surgery) was born in East Orange, NJ, and graduated from high school in Spring Valley, New York. He graduated from Princeton University in 1975, summa cum laude with an A.B. degree in Biochemistry. Dr. Yeo then graduated in 1979 from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, receiving the Upjohn Achievement Award and being elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and Phi Beta Kappa. Upon completing his internship and residency in General Surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, he pursued a Research Fellowship at the S.U.N.Y. Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. Dr. Yeo joined the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University as an Instructor and Assistant Chief of Service in the Department of Surgery in 1985, and rose to the rank of Professor in 1996. In 1997, he became a Professor in the Department of Oncology. Dr. Yeo directed the Pancreatic Cancer Interdisciplinary Working Group at Johns Hopkins, and served as the Surgical Clerkship Coordinator and Surgical Curriculum Consultant. In 2001, Dr. Yeo received the Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. As of October 1, 2005, Dr. Yeo was named the Samuel D. Gross Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  

Dr. Yeo’s primary interests and research are in the field of hepatopancreaticobiliary surgery—the evaluation of patients with pancreatic and related cancer, and the management of patients with unusual pancreatic neoplasms, as well as acute or chronic pancreatitis.

Dr. Yeo is the co-editor of the highly successful five-volume encyclopedic Shackelford’s Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, 5^th Edition, published in 2002, and the editor-in-chief of the 6^th edition, in 2007. He currently serves on the editorial boards of two journals Langenbeck’s Archives of Surgery and Surgery, and he is the associate editor of Advances in Surgery and the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery. He has authored over 325 peer reviewed scientific papers, numerous abstracts, and over 75 book chapters. Dr. Yeo travels nationally and internationally teaching and lecturing on the treatment of benign and malignant pancreaticdiseases. He has personally performed over 835 Whipple procedures, and has treated over 1200 patients with pancreatic and related cancers.

Dr. Hwyda Arafat (Assistant Professor of Surgery) holds a PhD in cell biology and immunology from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ and Ains Shams University (Cairo). Her laboratory currently researches Angiotensin II type 1 receptor expression in pancreatic cancer and its correlation with tumor angiogenesis and patient survival. Dr. Arafat has recently demonstrated that angiotensin II enhances tumor cell proliferation and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion via AT1R in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) cell lines in vitro. The goal of this project is to determine the clinical potential of AT1R as a novel molecular target in strategies for PDA treatment. She also examines ACE inhibitors as a novel therapy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, and Angiotensin II-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) interaction in pancreatic cancer cells. These studies evaluate the signal transduction pathways that are involved in the induction of VEGF by AngII in pancreatic cancer cell lines, the role of AngII as a transactivator for VEGF receptor on PDA cells, and the role of Ang receptors in this signaling pathway. Understanding these mechanisms will help us to identify novel targets to prevent tumor growth and improve patient survival.

Dr. Adam Berger (Assistant Professor of Surgery) is the physician director of the Clinical Trials Office of the Kimmel Cancer Center. He received his medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine, and he completed a fellowship in Surgical Oncology at Fox Chase. He has special training in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers including esophageal, gastric, and pancreatic cancers. Dr. Berger’s research interests include molecular markers of prognosis and targeted therapies in esophageal, GE (gastroesophageal) junction, gastric, and pancreatic adenocarcinomas. Dr. Berger seeks to develop minimally invasive approaches in the surgical management of esophageal, gastric, and pancreatic malignancies. He is currently the principal investigator on a randomized trial exploring the optimal method to reconstruct the pancreas after the Whipple procedure.

Dr. Jonathan Brody (Assistant Professor of Surgery) received his PhD from the department of pathology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His thesis included cloning and defining a gene family linked to the process of tumorigenesis. Dr. Brody then took a post-doctoral position in oncology, training under the mentorship of a world expert in the genetics of pancreatic cancer, Dr. Scott Kern. With Dr. Kern, Dr. Brody has revolutionized a basic molecular biology technique, DNA electrophoresis, by developing low-molarity conductive media that is now being used worldwide to help speed the process-time behind genetic-based studies. Further, Dr. Brody has participated in studies that helped link the previously described BRCA2 pathway in pancreatic cancer to other DNA repair pathway genes. Dr. Brody is now attempting to utilize the genetic understanding of pancreatic cancer to provide more rationale drug treatments. Presently these studies include optimizing the common chemotherapeutic 5-fluorouracil and other drugs that can take advantage of mutations found in the majority of pancreatic cancers. The main goal of Dr. Brody’s laboratory is to understand the basic properties and defects of pancreatic cancer so we can translate this understanding to better target chemotherapeutics.

Dr. Karen Chojnacki (Assistant Professor of Surgery) graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Her clinical and research interests include laparoscopic management of benign esophageal diseases and surgical treatment of pancreatic cancer and liver tumors. She completed an advanced laparoscopic fellowship at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Cataldo Doria (Associate Professor of Surgery) received his MD from the University of Perugia School of Medicine and his PhD in immunology from the University of Catania School of Medicine, both in Italy. He is the Director of the Division of Transplant Surgery at Jefferson. Dr. Doria is a multi-organ transplant surgeon with extensive expertise in cadaveric and living related liver and kidney transplant, pancreas transplant, small-bowel transplant as well as liver and pancreatic resection and surgery of the bile duct.

Dr. Adam Frank (Assistant Professor of Surgery) earned his MD at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1995, completed his abdominal transplantation fellowship training at that institution in 2004, and served as a clinical instructor there until 2005 when he started at Jefferson.  He focuses his surgical expertise on solid organ transplantation and is the surgical director of Jefferson’s pancreas transplant program.  Dr. Frank completed his surgical residency at Temple University Hospital and was a transplant fellow at the University of Maryland Medical Center in 2000 when that program led the country in the number of kidney transplants.  His clinical and research interests have focused on transplant therapies for diabetic patients, and he has extensive experience with human pancreatic islet transplantation. 

Dr. Eugene P. Kennedy (Assistant Professor of Surgery) graduated from the University of Virginia, where he was an Echols Scholar. He received his M.D. from the Medical College of Virginia in 1996. He then received his general surgery training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he remained for a research fellowship in tumor immunology and a fellowship in Surgical Oncology. In 2004, Dr. Kennedy joined the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University as an Instructor and Assistant Chief of Service in the Department of Surgery. He subsequently joined the faculty at Thomas Jefferson University/Jefferson Medical College in 2006.

Dr. Kennedy has a special clinical interest in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers.  His research focuses on the development of novel immune approaches in the treatment of pancreatic and related cancers. He is also working to develop clinical algorithms to improve patient quality of life after pancreatic surgery, and to implement critical pathways to speed patient recovery after complex cancer surgery.

Dr. Susan Lanza-Jacoby (Professor of Surgery) holds an MSc in Public Health from Columbia University and a PhD in Nutrition/Biochemistry from Rutgers University. Her laboratory is currently developing novel strategies to prevent and treat breast and pancreatic cancers. Dr. Lanza-Jacoby and her team are planning a long-term study with a newly developed mouse model of human pancreatic cancer to investigate the role of calorie restriction in the prevention of pancreatic cancer. She and her team are also seeking funding to investigate the use of Tarceva, an approved pancreatic cancer drug, in combination with Lipitor for prevention of pancreatic cancer. Not all patients respond to Tarceva; however, a review of the literature indicates that statin drugs are associated with reduced rates of pancreatic cancer. Dr. Lanza-Jacoby proposes to test whether the combination of these drugs is more effective in preventing the development of pancreatic tumors.

Dr. Bernadette Profeta  (Assistant Professor of Surgery) is an attending surgeon. She received her medical degree from Jefferson and did her general surgical internship and residency here too. She completed a laparoscopic surgery fellowship at the Medical College of Virginia. She joined the faculty in September 2005 and has a special expertise in advanced laparoscopic surgery.  She has a special commitment to surgical education, and has been instrumental in organizing the Department of Surgery Skills Laboratory, for the development of knot-tying, suturing and minimally invasive skills

Dr. Ernest (Gary) L. Rosato (Associate Professor of Surgery) is a 1990 graduate of Jefferson Medical College. He completed his general surgical residency at Jefferson, and was immediately recruited to the faculty. Dr. Rosato was named division director of general surgery in 2004 when his father, Dr. Francis E. Rosato, retired from clinical practice. In addition to general surgery, Dr. Rosato specializes in hepato-pancreatic-biliary, complex esophageal and alimentary tract oncology. He has extensive clinical experience and has been an integral part of studies assessing the role of the intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Patricia Sauter received her BSN from the University of Maryland School of Nursing and her MSN from Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. She is a certified acute care nurse practitioner and a licensed massage therapist. She participates in numerous research projects related to pancreatic and hepatobiliary disease and has been co-author on numerous papers on these topics. During her career she has been involved with the treatment of over 1000 patients with pancreatic and related cancer. Her clinical experience focuses on pain management, quality of life and terminal care for those with pancreatic and biliary cancer, and education concerning these disease processes and surgery.