Wolpin Named Director of Gastrointestinal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber

Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH

Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH

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

Earlier this year, Wolpin, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, was appointed 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.

Succeeding Charles Fuchs, MD, MPH, 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, according to a news release from Dana-Farber. Additionally, he will oversee the translational research programs that support those activities, as well as the education mission of the center, including training the next generation of medical oncology fellows.

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

Wolpin’s research group conducts studies evaluating blood-based circulating markers, germline alterations, and somatic alterations in hundreds to thousands of subjects, in an effort to understand the factors that promote initiation and progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The near-term aim of their work is to translate cutting-edge laboratory science into approaches for early detection of pancreatic cancer and to develop new treatments for patients.

In his clinical practice, Wolpin cares for 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 earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed residency in training in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He completed fellowship training in Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber and returned to Brigham and Women’s Hospital 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.

He currently serves as 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 External Review Committee.

“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 research work, he has demonstrated the leadership skills that made him an ideal choice for this position.