Bassel El-Rayes, MD, is the Director of the GI Oncology Clinical and Translational Research Program, Associate Cancer Research Director for Clinical Research at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and Professor of Hematology and Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. El-Rayes earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and doctoral degree from the American University of Beirut. He then completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at Wayne State University, Detroit. He was on faculty at Wayne State University Karmanos Cancer Institute from 2003-2009. Dr. El-Rayes clinical interests include gastrointestinal malignancies specifically pancreatobiliary and neuroendocrine cancers. He is principle investigator on multiple investigator initiated trials. He has served on the gastrointestinal committee for Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) and Radiation Oncology Cooperative Group (RTOG). He currently serves on the National Cancer Institute Neuroendocrine Tumor (NET) Task Force. He also serves as Co-chair of Hoosier Oncology Group (HOG) Cancer Research Network – Gastrointestinal Clinical Trials Working Group. Dr. El-Rayes is a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Clinical Scholar. He has published over 90 peer reviewed articles in elite journals including Journal of Clinical Oncology and Cancer Research.
David A. Kooby, MD, FACS, specializes in laparoscopic/robotic and open surgical treatment of liver, bile duct, pancreas, stomach, and colon tumors/cancers. He also has expertise with tumors and diseases of the spleen, adrenal glands, and retroperitoneum. He has taught many national courses on laparoscopic resection of the liver, pancreas, and colon, and is frequently invited to speak at national conferences. He received his MD at the State University of New York, Downstate Medical College, Brooklyn, NY, in 1994; completed his surgical residency at Vanderbilt University, where he won medical student and resident teaching awards. He completed both bench research and clinical fellowships at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY. He was recruited by Emory in 2003, and is currently an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Surgical Oncology, Director of Surgical Oncology at Emory/Saint Joseph’s Hospital, and Director of Minimally Invasive GI Surgical Oncology. He serves on several national committees including the task force charged with updating the staging of hepatobiliary malignancies for the American Joint Committee on Cancer’s Cancer Staging Manual, the research and education committee for the American Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association, and the Hepatobiliary Working Group for the Society of Surgical Oncology. He is leader in multicenter clinical research and is a national leader in minimally invasive pancreatic surgery.
