My Locations
Part of the Duke Cancer Institute
About Me
I’m a fellowship-trained surgical oncologist who specializes in the surgical management of patients with gastrointestinal malignancies—including soft tissue sarcomas and pancreas, colorectal and gastric cancers. Many of my patients have advanced malignancies and I am always amazed at their resilience. Their determination to fight inspires me to aggressively pursue every surgical option and to study novel techniques to improve surgical outcomes. One of the most important reasons for patients to be treated at Duke is the emphasis on a team-oriented approach to every patient. Nearly every surgical cancer patient is discussed in a multidisciplinary tumor conference in order to assure state of the art care. When I am not in the hospital, my wife and I can be found chasing our two young children or running with our dog.
- Professor of Surgery, Surgical Oncology 2023
- Member of the Duke Cancer Institute, Duke Cancer Institute 2008
Areas of Expertise
- Stomach Cancer
- Pancreatic Cancer
- Peritoneal Surface Malignancies
- Soft Tissue Sarcoma
- Surgical Oncology
Ratings and Reviews
The ratings and reviews are based on patient responses to the overall provider rating question from the survey. The question reads: “Using any number from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst provider possible and 10 is the best provider possible, what number would you use to rate this provider?” Responses are converted to a 5-point rating system and applied consistently to all providers. Learn more about our survey process. Patients who see some types of providers receive a different version of the patient satisfaction survey. Those results are not available on DukeHealth.org.
Training and Education
In the News
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Clinical Focus and Research
My research primarily focuses on translational and outcomes research for gastrointestinal and soft tissue malignancies, such as pancreas, colorectal, gastric, and sarcoma. I also have a special interest treatments for disseminated peritoneal malignancies, specifically hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC).
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Duke Gastric and Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer Patient RegistryIRB# PRO00103250
- Clinical Trials Umbrella - Scanned Beam awarded by Massachusetts General Hospital 2019 - 2025
- Blazer, D. G., P. C. Kuo, T. Pappas, and B. M. Clary. Contemporary surgical management of liver, biliary tract, and pancreatic disease, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814293068.
- Winer, Leah K., Jordan D. Fredette, Jill Hasler, Rita Akumuo, Stephanie H. Greco, Margaret von Mehren, Alex J. Bartholomew, et al. “Examining the Impact of Biopsy Technique on Clinical and Pathologic Outcomes in Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans: An International, Multi-Institutional Study.” Ann Surg Oncol 32, no. 5 (May 2025): 3752–62. https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-025-17011-7.
- Chisholm, Miriam, Alisan Fathalizadeh, Dan German Blazer, and Charles Y. Kim. “Painful endometrial implants to the abdominal wall: minimally invasive treatment with percutaneous cryoablation with laparoscopic assistance.” BMJ Case Rep 18, no. 4 (April 16, 2025). https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2024-261219.
- Winer, Leah K., Jordan D. Fredette, Jill Hasler, Rita Akumuo, Stephanie H. Greco, Margaret von Mehren, Alex J. Bartholomew, et al. “ASO Visual Abstract: Examining the Impact of Biopsy Technique on Clinical and Pathologic Outcomes in Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans-An International, Multi-Institutional Study.” Ann Surg Oncol, March 24, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-025-17142-x.
- McCracken, E., S. Hatch, and D. G. Blazer. “Gastric Cancer in the Elderly.” In Principles and Practice of Geriatric Surgery: Third Edition: With 261 Figures and 155 Tables, 931–56, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47771-8_61.
- Talbot, L., and D. G. Blazer. “Regional therapies for hepatic malignancy.” In Contemporary Surgical Management of Liver, Biliary Tract, and Pancreatic Disease, 209–16, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814293068_0015.
- Shah, A. A., S. K. Reddy, D. G. Blazer, and B. M. Clary. “Gallbladder cancer.” In Contemporary Surgical Management of Liver, Biliary Tract, and Pancreatic Disease, 323–32, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814293068_0025.
- Winer, Leah K., Rita Akumuo, Jordan D. Fredette, Mengying Deng, Jill S. Hasler, Stephanie H. Greco, Margaret von Mehren, et al. “Current patterns of care and outcomes for dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans: An international multi-institutional collaborative.” In Cancer, 131:e35468, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.35468.
- Kanu, Elishama N., Ashley A. Fletcher, Sri Krishna, Frank J. Lowery, Haotian Zhuang, Ethan S. Agritelley, Jiayin Bao, et al. “Abstract B052: Single-cell and spatial analysis of the immune landscape unveils a subset of potentially tumor-reactive T cells in patients with localized PDAC.” In Cancer Research, 84:B052–B052. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), 2024. https://doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.pancreatic24-b052.
- Kanu, Elishama N., Ashley A. Fletcher, Jiayin Bao, Austin M. Eckhoff, Karrie Comatas, Tao Wang, Bin-Jin Hwang, et al. “Abstract B022: A platform to characterize hepatic immunity reveals variation in hepatic infiltration of tumor expanded T cells in “localized” PDAC.” In Cancer Research, 84:B022–B022. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), 2024. https://doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.panca2023-b022.
Insurance Accepted
Duke Health contracts with most major health insurance carriers and transplant networks, including the ones listed below.
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Aetna
- Aetna Choice POS, Aetna Choice POS II
- Aetna Elect Choice HMO, Aetna Open Access Elect Choice
- Aetna Health Network Only, Aetna Health Network Option
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Limited Benefit Insurance PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice POS
- Aetna Medicare Assure Plan (HMO D-SNP)
- Aetna Medicare Eagle Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Essential Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Value Plan (HMO)
- Aetna Open Access HMO, Open Access Aetna Select, Aetna Open Access Managed Choice
- Aetna Open Choice PPO
- Aetna PCP Coordinated POS Plan
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (QPOS)
- Aetna Select HMO
- Aetna Traditional Choice
- Aetna Voluntary Indemnity Group Plan
- Aetna Whole Health – Duke WakeMed WKCC
- Aetna/CVS Health
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Ambetter
- Ambetter of North Carolina
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
- Blue Advantage
- Blue Medicare (HMO, PPO)*
- Blue Options (123, PPO, HSA)
- Blue Select
- NC State Employees Health Plan
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice does not participate in the plan.
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Cigna
- Cigna Behavioral Health (*Limited eligibility)
- Cigna Choice Plus
- Cigna Connect Individual Family Plan
- Cigna Open Access
- Cigna Open Access Plus
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*Please call Cigna Behavioral Heath to see if the provider is participating in your plan.
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Duke Group Plans
- Duke Basic
- Duke Select
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Experience Health
- Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO) Plan
- Gateway Health Alliance
- Healthgram
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Humana
- Humana Choice (PPO)
- Humana Choice - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana ChoiceCare - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana Gold Choice - Medicare Advantage (PFFS)
- Humana Gold Plus - Medicare Advantage (HMO)
- Humana Medicare Advantage Group Plan - NC State Retirees
- MedCost
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Medicare
- First Medicare Direct
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
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NC Medicaid
- AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina
- Carolina Complete Health
- Healthy Blue
- NC Medicaid Direct
- WellCare of North Carolina
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TRICARE
- TRICARE Prime
- TRICARE Prime Remote
- TRICARE Select
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United Healthcare
- AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (HMO-POS)
- AARP Medicare Complete (HMO, PPO)*
- AARP Medicare Complete Essential (HMO)*
- All Savers Alternate Funding
- All Savers Fully Insured
- United Healthcare (HMO, PPO, POS)**
- United Healthcare Charter/Charter Balance/Charter Plus
- United Healthcare Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Core/Core Essential
- United Healthcare Navigate/Navigate Plus/Navigate Balanced
- United Healthcare Option PPO
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Options PPO
- United Healthcare Select/Select Plus
- United Healthcare Shared Services - Harvard Pilgrim/UHC Options PPO Network
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice and mental health providers do not participate with the plan.
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**Duke Health does not participate in UHC plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Before scheduling your appointment, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the Duke Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any co-payments, co–insurances, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with Duke, your out of pocket liability may be higher. We will contact you regarding your coverage and patient liability. If you are uninsured, learn more about our financial assistance policy.
External Relationships
- SpringWorks Therapeutics