A native of northern New Jersey, Dr. Benjamin Medina received his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Virginia, graduating with distinction. He received his medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, where he was a member of the AOA honor society. Dr. Medina completed residency training in general surgery at New York University and Bellevue Hospital where he was appointed administrative chief resident. During that time, he also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in the laboratory of Ronald P. DeMatteo at Memorial Sloan Kettering. He then completed his thoracic surgery residency at MSK, which included training in benign esophageal surgery, lung transplantation, and cardiac surgery at New York Presbyterian Columbia and Cornell.
Dr. Medina specializes in general thoracic surgery with an emphasis in thoracic surgical oncology including lung cancer, esophageal cancer, mediastinal tumors, chest wall tumors, and malignant pleural mesothelioma. To achieve the best possible patient outcomes, he uses robotic and video-assisted thoracoscopic techniques and is a proponent of lung preservation strategies including sub-lobar anatomic resection when appropriate.
Dr. Medina has authored or co-authored papers in Nature, the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Clinical Cancer Research, and the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. His translational research focused on immunology and combined immunotherapy and targeted kinase inhibition. His future research endeavors will explore the role of surgery with immunotherapy and targeted therapies in the neoadjuvant or adjuvant setting for patients with operable thoracic malignancies. He is a member of the American College of Surgeons and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife, family and friends, cycling, cooking, and playing guitar.
Philosophy of Care:
Being diagnoses with cancer is an overwhelming life event and the landscape of treatment options has broadened substantially. When patients and caregivers meeting with me, I want then to know that I, together with a multidisciplinary team of experts. Will take good care of them. I take the time to tailor a treatment plan that maximizes the opportunity to cure a person’s cancer while minimizing the potential complications and side effects of surgery. This includes the use of robotic and lung-sparing techniques to reduce pain, preserve lung function, and enable a quicker return to normal activity.
Robotic surgery, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, mediastinal tumors, chest wall tumors, malignant pleural mesothelioma, hiatal hernia, gastroesophageal reflux, achalasia
University of Virginia
UMDNJ New Jersey Medical School
New York University
Memorial Sloan Kettering
| Title: | Oncogene inhibition activates anti-tumoral IL-17A+ T cells in the gastrointestinal stromal tumor microenvironment. |
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| Description: | Etherington M, Hanna A, Medina BD, Liu M, Tieniber A, Levin L, Do K, Rossi F, DeMatteo RP. |
| Title: | Percutaneous dilational tracheostomy at the epicenter of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: Impact on critical care resource utilization and early outcomes. |
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| Description: | Krosowski L, Medina B, DiMaggio C, Hong C, Moore S, Straznitskas A, Rogers C, Mukherjee V, Uppa A, Frangos S, Bukur M. |
| Title: | Oncogenic Kit modulates type I interferon tumor immunity in GIST. |
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| Description: | Liu M, Etherington M, Hanna A, Medina BD, Vitiello GA, Bowler TG, Param NJ, Levin L, Rossi F, DeMatteo RP. 2021 May; 9(5):542-553. |
| Title: | The V654A second-site KIT mutation increases tumor oncogenesis and STAT activation in a mouse model of gastrointestinal stromal tumor. Oncogene. |
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| Description: | Zhang JQ, Bosbach B, Loo JK, Vitiello GA, Zeng S, Seifert AM, Medina BD, Param NJ, Maltbaek JH, Rossi F, Antonescu CR, Besmer P, DeMatteo RP. 2020 Dec; 39(49):7153-7165. |
| Title: | Metastasectomy for melanoma is associated with improved overall survival in responders to targeted molecular or immunotherapy. Journal of Surgical Oncology. |
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| Description: | Medina BD, Choi BH, Rodogiannis KG, Moran U, Shapiro RL, Pavlick A, Osman I, Berman RS, Lee AY. 2020 Sep 122(3);555-561. |
| Title: | Rethinking T Cells in Pancreas Cancer. Clinical Cancer Research. |
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| Description: | Medina BD, Miller G 2019 Jul 1;25(13):3747-3749. |
| Title: | Oncogenic kinase inhibition limits Batf3-dependent dendritic cell development and anti-tumor immunity. |
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| Description: | Medina BD, Liu M, Vitiello GA, Seifert AM, Zeng S, Bowler T, Zhang JQ, Cavnar MJ, Loo JK, Param NJ, Maltbaek JH, Rossi F, Balachandran VP, DeMatteo RP. Journal of Experimental Medicine. 2019 Jun 3;216(6):1359-1376 |
| Title: | Differential immune profiles distinguish the mutational subtypes of gastrointestinal stromal tumor. |
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| Description: | Vitiello GA, Bowler TG, Liu M, Medina BD, Zhang JQ, Param NJ, Loo JK, Goldfeder RL, Chibon F, Rossi F, Zeng S, DeMatteo RP. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2019 May 1;129(5):1863-1877. |
| Title: | Macrophages and CD8+ T Cells Mediate the Antitumor Efficacy of Combined CD40 Ligation and Imatinib Therapy in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors. |
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| Description: | Zhang JQ, Zeng S, Vitiello GA, Seifert AM, Medina BD, Beckman MJ, Loo JK, Santamaria-Barria J, Maltbaek JH, Param NJ, Moral JA, Zhao JN, Balachandran V, Rossi F, Antonescu CR, DeMatteo RP. Cancer Immunology Research. 2018 Apr, 6(4): 434-447 |
| Title: | Mitochondrial Inhibition Augments the Efficacy of Imatinib by Resetting the Metabolic Phenotype of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor. |
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| Description: | Vitiello GA, Medina BD, Zeng S, Bowler TG, Zhang JQ, Loo JK, Param NJ, Liu M, Moral AJ, Zhao JN, Rossi F, Antonescu CR, Balachandran VP, Cross JR, DeMatteo RP. Clinical Cancer Research. 2018 Feb, 15;24(4): 972-984 |
| Title: | ETV4 collaborates with Wnt/ß-catenin signaling to alter cell cycle activity and promote tumor aggressiveness in gastrointestinal stromal tumor. |
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| Description: | Zeng S, Seifert AM, Zhang JQ, Kim TS, Bowler TG, Cavnar MJ, Medina BD, Vitiello GA, Rossi F, Loo JK, Param NJ, DeMatteo RP. Oncotarget. 2017 Dec, 11;8(69): 114195-114209 |
| Title: | Identification of unique neoantigen qualities in long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer. |
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| Description: | Balachandran VP, Tuksza M, Zhao JN, Makarov V, Moral JA, Remark R, Herbst B, Askan G, Bhanot U, Senbabaoglu Y, Wells DK, Cary CIO, Grbovic-Huezo O, Attiyeh M, Medina B, Zhang J, Loo J, Saglimbeni J, Abu-Akeel M, Zappasodi R, Riaz N, Smoragiewicz M, Kelley ZL, Basturk O; Nature. 2017 Nov, 23;551(7681): 512-516 |
| Title: | Duodenal-Jejunal Flexure GI Stromal Tumor Frequently Heralds Somatic NF1 and Notch Pathway Mutations. Journal of Precision Oncology. |
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| Description: | Burgoyne AM, De Siena M, Alkhuziem M, Tang CM, Medina B, Fanta PT, Belinsky MG, von Mehren M, Thorson JA, Madlensky L, Bowler T, D'Angelo F, Stupack DG, Harismendy O, DeMatteo RP, Sicklick JK. 2017 Aug, Epub |
| Title: | Wnt/ß-catenin signaling contributes to tumor malignancy and is targetable in gastrointestinal stromal tumor. |
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| Description: | Zeng S, Seifert AM, Zhang JQ, Cavnar MJ, Kim TS, Balachandran CP, Santamaria-Barria JA, Cohen NA, Beckman MJ, Medina BD, Rossi F, Crawley MH, Loo JK, Maltbaek JK, Besmer P, Antonescu CR, DeMatteo RP. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. 2017, 16(9): 1954-1966 |
| Title: | PD-1/PD-L1 Blockade Enhances T-cell Activity and Antitumor Efficacy of Imatinib in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors. |
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| Description: | Seifert AM, Zeng S, Zhang JQ, Kim TS, Cohen NA, Beckman MJ, Medina BD, Maltbaek JH, Loo JK, Crawley MH, Rossi F, Besmer P, Antonescu CR, DeMatteo, RP. Clinical Cancer Research 2017 Jan, 23(2): 454-465 |
| Title: | Neurologic outcome of minimal head injury (MHI) patients managed with and without a routine repeat head computed tomography (RHCT). |
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| Description: | Nayak NV, Medina B, Patel K, Homnick AT, Mohr AM, Livingston DH, Prestigiacomo CJ, Sifri ZC. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. 2013 Aug, 75(2): 273-278 |
| Title: | Immune Response and Immunotherapy in GIST. |
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| Description: | Gerardo A. Vitiello, Benjamin D. Medina, Ronald P. DeMatteo. Immunotherapy of Sarcoma, First Edition Springer, 2019. |
| Title: | Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor. |
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| Description: | Benjamin D. Medina, Ronald P. DeMatteo. Clinical Scenarios in Surgery: Decision Making and Operative Technique, Second Edition. Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins. Second Edition. 2019. |
| Title: | Colorectal Cancer Metastases |
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| Description: | Benjamin D. Medina, Ronald P. DeMatteo. Surgical Decision Making, Sixth Edition. Elsevier. 2019. |
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