Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center names Christopher Lathan, MD, as Medical Director

Christopher Lathan, MD, MS, MPH, has been named medical director of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. His new appointment is effective February 1.

“Chris was unanimously selected by Dana-Farber and Steward leadership as the ideal person to lead Dana-Farber at St. Elizabeth’s at this time of change in the healthcare environment,” said Andrew Norden, MD, MPH, associate chief medical officer of the Dana-Farber network. “We congratulate him and wish him tremendous success in this important new role.”

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Lathan to our medical staff,” said Beth Hughes, president of St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. “His expertise will be of great benefit to patients in providing expert cancer care in the community setting at St. Elizabeth's.”

Dr. Lathan has been a member of the Thoracic Oncology Program at Dana-Farber since 2005 and was appointed as the first Faculty Director of Cancer Care Equity at Dana-Farber in 2010. He directs a successful Dana-Farber clinical service at Whittier Street Health Center in Boston where he developed a lung cancer screening pilot program with the support of a CVS pharmacy foundation grant. He is also a leading researcher in Dana-Farber’s Population Sciences Center on issues of race and class disparities in cancer care and has published and lectured extensively on this topic.

In addition to leading Dana-Farber at St. Elizabeth’s, Dr. Lathan will continue his work at Whittier Street Health Center and see patients in his thoracic oncology practice at Dana-Farber’s main campus.

A graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine, Dr. Lathan completed his Residency in Internal Medicine at Boston Medical Center where he served as Chief Medical Resident in 2002.  He completed a fellowship in Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare in 2005. Dr. Lathan has received the Dana-Farber Collaborative Leadership Award in 2012 and the Harvard Medical School Harold Amos Faculty Diversity Award in 2015.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute provides the latest hematology and medical oncology care to patients at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. The partnership between Dana-Farber and St. Elizabeth's enables patients to receive the benefit of Dana-Farber's advances in care and research at their local hospital. Dana-Farber teams at St. Elizabeth's and in Boston collaborate to review cases and develop the optimal treatment plan for patients.