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Darren R. Carpizo, M.D., Ph.D.

Contact Information

Phone Numbers

Appointment: (585) 275-1611

URMFGA member of the University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group

groupAn Accountable Health Partner

assignmentAccepting New Patients

Research Labs

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Locations

University of Rochester Medical Center
School of Medicine and Dentistry
601 Elmwood Ave, Box SURG
Rochester, NY 14642

Faculty Appointments

Patient Care Setting

Surgery

Biography

“My goal is to educate my patients about their cancer and help them make the best choice for themselves and their family on how it should be treated. I provide the same level of care that I would give to any member of my family.”

Areas of Expertise

• Liver cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Gallbladder and Bile duct cancer
• Metastatic colon cancer to the liver
• Gastric cancer
• Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors

I chose this field to treat hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancer because they are aggressive cancers that require a high degree of complex multidisciplinary oncologic management. This is challenging, but can also be very rewarding. I wanted to apply myself to this field not only to try to help patients afflicted with these cancers, but to also move the field forward through research.

In addition, I chose the field of liver surgery for several reasons. For one, I am fascinated by the liver. It is one of the most complex organs in the body both structurally and functionally and is essential for life. It is one of the most common places that cancers spread to as they progress and, it is the only organ capable of regeneration. As a surgeon, I can use this to my advantage when performing liver surgery as we have techniques to grow more liver when it is necessary to remove a very large part to treat a cancer.

Patients and providers alike can be confident knowing I have devoted the greater part of my career to the study of cancer and the treatment of it. This is due to the strong empathy I have for cancer patients and my intense passion for cancer research. I also have a Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology and have been performing cancer research for over 20 years. I am intensely curious, which drives my desire to understand what we do not know. My curiosity is also fueled by experiences in patient care, resulting in new clinical trials that I lead as well as research conducted by my laboratory.

Research

Gastrointestinal cancers such as pancreatic, bile duct and liver cancers are plagued by ineffective systemic therapies underscoring the tremendous unmet need for novel therapies. The Carpizo Laboratory studies cancer biology with an emphasis on developmental therapeutics. Our studies range from early drug discovery projects to translational studies of novel therapies that are about to enter or just have entered into clinical trials. These translational studies employ a variety of experimental systems including mouse cancer models, patient derived tissues as well as therapeutic clinical protocols.

Another major avenue of research in the Carpizo lab is the study of cancer metastasis and dormancy. Most solid organ cancers (i.e. breast, lung, pancreas) are treated with surgery when it appears that the disease has not spread to distant organs. This is highly effective (curative) for a number of tumor types such as breast, prostate, and thyroid cancer. However, for a number of gastrointestinal cancers such as pancreas, liver and bile duct cancer, surgery is relatively ineffective as the majority of these patients go on to suffer metastatic recurrence. This means that at the time of the surgery, they harbor disseminated tumor cells in their bodies that for a period of time after surgery remain dormant. We want to understand what the molecular mechanisms that control cancer dormancy are, what awakens these cells and how can we devise therapies that either maintain the dormant state, or drive the cells into senescence.

Credentials

Specialties

    Education

    1997
    MD | University of Illinois College of Medicine (USA)

    2003
    PHD | University of California Los Angeles Medical Center
    Pathology, Medical Microbiology

    Post-doctoral Training & Residency

    07/01/2006 - 06/30/2008
    Fellowship in Surgical Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

    07/01/1997 - 06/30/1998
    Internship in Surgery (General Surgery) at Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA Medical Center

    Awards

    2019
    Elected Membership
    Sponsor: Surgical Biology Club II

    2018
    Elected Membership
    Sponsor: Society of University Surgeons

    2013
    Harrington Scholar Innovator Award
    Sponsor: Harrington Discovery Institute

    2013
    Most Outstanding Faculty Basic Science Research Paper
    Sponsor: Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson University Medical School Deans Awar

    2012
    Sidney Kimmel Scholar Award
    Sponsor: Sidney Kimmel Cancer Research Foundation

    2006
    Scientific Day Research Award
    Sponsor: UCLA Longmire

    2005
    Scientific Day Research Award
    Sponsor: UCLA Longmire

    2003
    Scholar in Training Award
    Sponsor: American Association for Cancer Research

    2003
    Resident Teaching Award
    Sponsor: UCLA Department of Surgery

    2001
    Scholar in Training Award
    Sponsor: American Association for Cancer Research

    2001
    Postdoctoral Investigators
    Sponsor: Giannini Family Foundation Medical Research Fellowship Award

    2000
    Scholar in Training Award
    Sponsor: American Association for Cancer Research

    1997
    Medical Honor Society
    Sponsor: Alpha Omega Alpha

    1994
    Student Abstract Prize
    Sponsor: AGA Foundation

    1993
    Student Research Award
    Sponsor: American Gastroenterological Association (AGA)

    VIEW ALL expand_more

    Publications

    Journal Articles

    10/10/2022
    Ghaddar B, Biswas A, Harris C, Omary MB, Carpizo DR, Blaser MJ, De S. "Tumor microbiome links cellular programs and immunity in pancreatic cancer." Cancer cell.. 2022 Oct 10; 40(10):1240-1253.e5.

    9/19/2022
    Melucci AD, Chacon AC, Burchard PR, Tsagkalidis V, Casabianca AS, Goyal S, Switchenko JM, Kooby DA, Staley CA, Carpizo DR, Shah MM. "The Impact of Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9 on Survival in Patients with Clinical Stage I and II Pancreatic Cancer." Annals of surgical oncology.. 2022 Sep 19; Epub 2022 Sep 19.

    9/10/2022
    Melucci AD, Carpizo DR, Shah MM. "ASO Author Reflections: Pretreatment CA 19-9 Threshold of 98 U/mL is a Reasonable Cutoff for Prognostication of Clinical Stage I and II Pancreatic Cancer." Annals of surgical oncology.. 2022 Sep 10; Epub 2022 Sep 10.

    Books & Chapters

    2018
    Book Title: Precision Molecular Pathology of Liver Cancer
    Author List: Greco SH, Spencer K, Carpizo DR
    Edited By: Chen Liu
    Published By: Springer Publishing 2018

    2008
    Book Title: : Metastatic Liver Cancer in Gastrointestinal Oncology: A Critical Multidisciplinary Team Approach.
    Author List: Fong Y, Carpizo D, Kemeny NE, Covey AM, Willet CG, Czito BG
    Edited By: Janusz Jankowski, Richard Sampliner, David Kerr, Yuman Fong
    Published By: Blackwell Publishing 2008

    2004
    Chapter Title: Brooks: Re-operative Breast Surgery
    Book Title: Handbook of Re-operative General Surgery
    Author List: Chang H, Carpizo, DR
    Published By: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. 2004 in Malden, MA

    VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS

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