Russell C. Langan, MD

Russell C. Langan, MD, FACS, FSSO, Associate Chief Surgical Officer for System Integration and Quality and Director of Surgical Oncology, Northern Region, RWJBarnabas Health (RWJBH) and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey (RCINJ), is responsible for coordinating and expanding high quality cancer surgical services throughout the RWJBH system. He is the Chief of Surgical Oncology and Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, the Chairman of the Institutional Review Board (IRB), the Surgical Director of the Comprehensive Liver Center and a member of the Board of Trustees at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center (CBMC), an RWJBH facility.

He specializes in complex surgical oncology and has a particular interest and expertise in the surgical management of diseases of the liver, pancreas, bile ducts, gallbladder and stomach as well as cancers which have spread to the peritoneum. Additionally, he cares for all benign biliary pathologies.

Dr. Langan and his partners are the highest volume pancreatic surgeons and run the most comprehensive pancreatic program in the state of NJ through RCINJ, the states only National Cancer Institute Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.

As a member of both the CBMC Cancer Center and the Gastrointestinal/Hepatobiliary Program at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, he works collaboratively with members of the multidisciplinary disease management teams including medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, gastroenterologists, radiologists, pathologists, genetic counselors and dietitians to ensure patients receive the highest level of evidence-based care including clinical trials. At CBMC, he launched a Pancreatic Cyst Screening program to monitor pancreatic lesions which do not merit immediate removal but require observation. Recently, he brought the national, multi-center Alliance Trial for operable pancreas cancer to NJ and is the primary investigator for that trial.

Prior to joining CBMC, he completed a general surgery residency at Georgetown University Hospital and fellowships in Tumor Immunotherapy and Surgical Oncology under Steven Rosenberg, MD, PhD, at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (NCI, NIH) as well as a fellowship in complex general surgical oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he received specialized training in the surgical management of hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers.

Dr. Langan has authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles and eight book chapters dedicated to surgical oncology. He continues to present and lecture regionally and nationally and is very involved in clinical research as a principal and associate investigator on numerous clinical trials.

Dr. Langan is a member of the American College of Surgeons, Society of Surgical Oncology, Advanced Cancer Therapies, American Hepatopancreatobiliary Association and the Association for Academic Surgery. He is a member of the program committee for the Advanced Cancer Therapies/Society of Surgical Oncology, Executive Committee for the NJ Chapter of the American College of Surgeons and the Conflict of Interest Committee for the American Hepatopancreatobiliary Association.

He has received numerous awards including from the National Institutes of Health, Health and Human Services (Recognition for Special Act and Service), Georgetown University Hospital, DC Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, Society of Black Academic Surgeons, the Marquis Who’s Who award in 2015, the Top Doctor Award for surgical oncology in New York, New York for 2016, NJ Magazine Top Doctor Award in 2019, 2020 and 2022 and the Diamond Award from the NJ American Cancer Society in 2019.

Dr. Langan recognizes the paramount importance of oncologic research on clinical outcomes and continues to publish and present at local and national conferences. Dr. Langan continues to investigate ways to further enhance the care of the cancer patient and strives to provide the highest level of expertise and precision with unwavering compassion, optimism and hope to my patients and their families.