Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH, appointed new director of Gastrointestinal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber

Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH, has been named the new Director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Wolpin is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and was appointed earlier this year as the Robert T. and Judith B. Hale Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at Dana-Farber. He has also served as co-director of the Pancreas and Biliary Tumor Center at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center.

“Dr. Wolpin has been a highly sought-after clinician focused on the treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer,” said Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, president and CEO of Dana-Farber. “He has made important contributions to the field of pancreatic cancer research, translating discoveries into new strategies for early detection and treatment. Through his clinical and research work, he has demonstrated the leadership skills that made him an ideal choice for this position.”

As Director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center, Wolpin will lead the Center in its delivery of high-quality clinical care and clinical research aimed at improving outcomes for patients with gastrointestinal cancers. He will also oversee the translational research programs that support those activities, and will oversee the education mission of the Center, especially the training of the next generation of medical oncology fellows.

“I am extremely honored to serve as the Director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber,” said Wolpin. “With an incredibly talented and dedicated team of researchers and clinicians, the Center is making ground-breaking discoveries while delivering cutting-edge, compassionate care to all patients with gastrointestinal cancers.”

Wolpin obtained his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed residency training in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). He completed fellowship training in Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber and returned to BWH to serve as chief medical resident. Subsequently, he received his master’s degree in Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His research group is focused on understanding the factors that promote initiation and progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. These studies involve evaluation of blood-based circulating markers, germline alterations, and somatic alterations in hundreds to thousands of subjects. The near-term goals of this work are to translate cutting-edge laboratory science into approaches for early detection of pancreatic cancer and to develop new treatments for patients with this malignancy.

Wolpin holds several leadership positions nationally and internationally, including Chair of the NCI Pancreatic Cancer Detection Consortium Steering Committee, co-Principal Investigator of the NCI Pancreatic Cancer Cohort Consortium, Medical Oncology Study Chair for ALLIANCE A021501, and Chair of the OICR Pancreatic Cancer Translational Research Initiative (PanCuRx TRI) External Review Committee. His research group has received funding from numerous sources, including the U.S. NIH/NCI, U.S. Department of Defense, ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Lustgarten Foundation, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, and industry partners.

Wolpin’s clinical practice involves the care of patients with gastrointestinal cancers, with a focus on pancreatic cancer. He holds several leadership positions related to clinical expertise, including membership on the NCI Pancreas Cancer Task Force, Alliance/CALGB Gastrointestinal Cancer Committee, and NCCN Guidelines Committee for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma.

Wolpin succeeds Charles Fuchs, MD, MPH.