Skip to main content
menu

Aram F. Hezel, M.D.

Contact Information

Phone Numbers

Appointment: (585) 275-5823

Office: (585) 275-5823

Fax: (585) 273-1051

Social Links

@afhezel

URMFGA member of the University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group

groupAn Accountable Health Partner

assignmentAccepting New Patients

Faculty Appointments

Patient Care Setting

Cancer

Biography

Serving the University and Rochester community as Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology is a great privilege and honor.

Oncology is a field of work I chose driven by the loss of my grandfather from cancer as a young man, and then later in medical school, as I came to understand the scientific challenges cancer medicine presented and the deep satisfaction of caring for and helping people facing cancer. In particular I found the people I met in the clinics and labs who devoted themselves to this area to be role models and sources of inspiration.

Every patient is different – and so is each cancer. Understanding patients and their families, what is important to them, and providing the best possible care is my goal. While many people face cancer, each person does so with specific concerns, fears and beliefs. I will always do my best to provide the highest quality care, while preserving a patient's dignity.

My areas of special interest include clinical trials with new therapies for gastrointestinal cancers, and understanding the genetics and biology of pancreatic and liver cancers. My clinical specialty, caring for patients with gastro-intestinal cancers, both motivates and informs my research aspirations.

In the course of this work, I have promoted physician-scientist training at multiple levels including through the cancer center and the national cancer research community. Specifically, I have mentored numerous oncology fellows, postdoctoral fellows and PhD candidates, including MD-PhD students. As a physician, researcher and leader at URMC and Wilmot I am committed to enhancing the diversity of our community.

Conditions I Treat

- Esophageal cancer
- Stomach cancer
- Liver cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Bowel cancer
- Colon cancer
- Rectal cancer
- Anal cancer
- Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST)
- Neuroendocrine tumors
- Carcinoid tumors

Professional Background

Dr. Hezel is Chief of its Division of Hematology and Oncology and Professor in the Department of Medicine, John and Ethel Heselden Professor and has joint appointments as professor of biomedical genetics and as professor of oncology at the Wilmot Cancer Institute.

Dr. Hezel's research focuses on cancer genetics, animal modelling, and therapeutic development in pancreatic and hepato-biliary tumors and clinical trials in gastro-intestinal malignancies. In biliary tract cancers he has studied how mutations in key oncogenes and tumor suppressors cause cancer to arise and to understand the cells of origin in the liver as well as how liver injury can impact disease. Hezel's clinical focus is on treating patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancers including those of the pancreas and liver and on clinical research testing new therapies in gastrointestinal malignancies. His research has appeared in Cancer Research, Cell Reports, Nature, and the British Journal of Cancer among other publications.

Hezel is an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, as well as the American Association for Cancer Research, and his work is supported by the National Cancer Institute.

Hezel, a graduate of Vassar College, received his MD from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2000. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center of Boston followed by fellowship at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Partners Oncology/Hematology Program and a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Hezel came to Rochester in 2009 from the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School.

Credentials

Specialties

    Education

    2000
    MD | SUNY at Buffalo-School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (USA)

    Post-doctoral Training & Residency

    07/01/2003 - 06/30/2006
    Fellowship in Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

    07/01/2001 - 06/30/2003
    Residency in Internal Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center-Main Campus

    07/01/2000 - 06/30/2001
    Internship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center-Main Campus

    VIEW ALL expand_more

    Awards

    2013
    Patient & Family Centered Care Top Performer Award
    Location: University of Rochester, American Cancer Society

    2013
    American Cancer Society Career Development Award

    2012
    Teacher of the Year Award
    Location: University of Rochester, Division of Hematology & Oncology

    2011
    Teacher of the Year Award
    Location: University of Rochester, Division of Hematology & Oncology

    2010
    Edelman Gardner Research Award
    Location: University of Rochester, Wilmot Cancer Center

    2007
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute Physician-Scientist Early Career Award

    2006
    NCI Career Development Award: K08 CA122835-03

    2005
    PanCAN/ASCO Young Investigator Award

    2000
    Loretta A. Jordan Award for Research of Neoplastic Disease

    2000
    Robin Bannerman Memorial Research Award

    1999
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Training Fellowship for Medical Students

    1998
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Training Fellowship

    1997
    John Harford/American Federation for Aging Research
    Location: Medical School Research Fellowship

    1996 - 1997
    Dean's List for Academic Excellence
    Location: SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine

    VIEW ALL expand_more

    Publications

    Journal Articles

    6/1/2024
    Alexander WB, Wang W, Hill MA, O'Dell MR, Ruffolo LI, Guo B, Jackson KM, Ullman N, Friedland SC, McCall MN, Patel A, Figueroa-Guilliani N, Georger M, Belt BA, Whitney-Miller CL, Linehan DC, Murphy PJ, Hezel AF. "Smad4 restricts injury-provoked biliary proliferation and carcinogenesis." Disease models & mechanisms.. 2024 Jun 1; 17(6)Epub 2024 Feb 28.

    1/31/2024
    Chen IY, Ettel MG, Bell PD, Huber AR, Findeis-Hosey JJ, Wang W, Hezel AF, Dunne RF, Drage MG, Agostini-Vulaj D. "SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical study." Human pathology.. 2024 Jan 31; Epub 2024 Jan 31.

    1/2/2024
    Thompson HM, Omer DM, Lin S, Kim JK, Yuval JB, Veheij FS, Qin LX, Gollub MJ, Wu AJ, Lee M, Patil S, Hezel AF, Marcet JE, Cataldo PA, Polite BN, Herzig DO, Liska D, Oommen S, Friel CM, Ternent CA, Coveler AL, Hunt SR, Garcia-Aguilar J, . "Organ Preservation and Survival by Clinical Response Grade in Patients With Rectal Cancer Treated With Total Neoadjuvant Therapy: A Secondary Analysis of the OPRA Randomized Clinical Trial." JAMA network open.. 2024 Jan 2; 7(1):e2350903. Epub 2024 Jan 02.

    Books & Chapters

    2007
    Chapter Title: "Stromal biology of pancreatic cancer."
    Book Title: Journal of cellular biochemistry
    Author List: Chu GC; Kimmelman AC; Hezel AF; DePinho RA
    Published By: Journal of Cellular Biochemistry 2007

    VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS

    Reviews

    At URMC, we believe that patients should be empowered to make the right decisions regarding their personal healthcare. To do so, transparency is critical. URMC partners with Press Ganey, to survey our patients about all aspects of their care experience. We are now putting this pertinent information at your fingertips by displaying star ratings for our providers along with anonymous patient comments on our website. This will help you make better-informed choices about how and with whom you seek care. Click here to learn more about the surveys used to generate this vital information.