Dr. Wayne Hofstetter

MD Anderson Cancer Center
University of Texas

Wayne L. Hofstetter, M.D., is currently Professor and Deputy Chair in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and serves as Director of the Esophageal Surgery Program.

A graduate of the University of Southern California Medical School, Dr. Hofstetter focused on thoracic surgical disease, completing fellowships in esophageal and foregut surgeries at the University of Southern California, and then thoracic oncology at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Broadly trained as a cardiothoracic surgeon and thoracic oncologist at the Texas Heart Institute, he now devotes a great deal of his work to esophageal cancer and lung cancer. At M. D. Anderson, he formed a strong network of clinicians with specific interests in esophageal diseases. A multidisciplinary group emerged under his able leadership, and together, physicians from other specialties like Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, and Gastroenterology collaborate closely to treat esophageal cancer patients.

Dr. Hofstetter is a leading proponent of surgical and multidisciplinary approaches to esophageal cancer and minimally invasive approaches to lung cancer, bringing to the institution his unique clinical skills in MIS approaches to thoracic surgery.

Board certified both by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, Dr. Hofstetter is nationally and internationally involved in a host of clinical and scientific endeavors with membership in several organizations, the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, the General Thoracic Surgical Club, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, including the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. His research, which forms a vital part of his academic role, has led to numerous peer-reviewed publications, notably in such journals as the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Annals of Thoracic Surgery, and Cancer.

Dr. Steven Lin

MD Anderson Cancer Center
University of Texas

I am an Associate Professor in Radiation Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. I received my M.D./Ph.D. degrees in the Medical Scientist Training Program at The University of California Irvine Medical School and completed residency at Johns Hopkins. One of my primary clinical research interest focuses on ways to enhance radiotherapy cures in esophageal cancer. This can incorporate the use of advanced radiation techniques to limit the exposure of normal tissue and reduce the morbidity of treatment. The clinical benefit of advanced radiation technologies to improve outcomes in esophageal cancer has been demonstrated from single institutional datasets to large population or hospital-based databases. 

I am currently PI of a Phase IIB randomized trial comparing Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) vs. Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) in esophageal cancer. This is currently being developed as a NRG Phase III randomized trial (GI1543) for which I will serve as the national PI.   

Dr. Manish Shah

Weill Cornell Medicine
New York Presbyterian Hospital

Manish Shah, the Bartlett Family Associate Professor of Gastrointestinal Oncology, is a world recognized clinical and translational investigator focusing on drug development and advancing the care of gastrointestinal malignancies. He received a BES in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University; MD from the Harvard/MIT Health Sciences and Training program; and completed his training in Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering / Weill Cornell Medicine, where he was chief fellow.  Presently, his academic titles include Chief, Solid Tumor Oncology Service; Director, Gastrointestinal Oncology Program at Weill Cornell Medicine and Co-Director, Center for Advanced Digestive Care, New York Presbyterian Hospital.  

Dr. Nicholas Shaheen

School of Medicine
University of North Carolina

Nicholas J. Shaheen, MD, MPH is the Bozymski-Heizer Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at UNC. Dr. Shaheen is a recognized expert in esophageal diseases. His research and clinical interests center on gastroesophageal reflux disease, and pre-cancerous and cancerous conditions of the esophagus. He has authored greater than 300 publications in these areas. Dr. Shaheen is author of multiple national guidelines in Barrett’s esophagus, GERD and eosinophilic esophagitis. He has served as senior associate editor for the American Journal of Gastroenterology, and on multiple other editorial boards. Dr. Shaheen receives research funding from the National Institutes of Health, multiple societies, and private and public foundations.