CT Surgery Welcomes Shrager, Merritt, and Hoang to the Division of Thoracic Surgery

(12/2008)

Stanford’s Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery welcomes Drs. Joseph Shrager, Robert Merritt, and Chuong Hoang to the Division of Thoracic Surgery.

Dr. Joseph Shrager assumed the role of Professor and Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery in July 2008. He came to Stanford from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where he served as Associate Professor and Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Hospital. Dr. Shrager is identified as one of “America’s Top Doctors” in Castle-Connolly’s prestigious listing. He was also listed multiple years running as a “Top Doc” in Philadelphia Magazine. Evidence of his expert status among his peers includes membership on the editorial board of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

Dr. Shrager practices all aspects of thoracic surgery but has specials interest and experience in lung cancer, surgery for emphysema, and mediastinal diseases. In all cases, he looks towards minimally invasive approaches where appropriate, including VATS (thoracoscopic) lobectomy for early stage lung cancer and transcervical thymectomy.

Dr. Robert Merritt, Acting Assistant Professor, came to Stanford from Massachusetts General Hospital where he completed his cardiothoracic surgery residency. Dr. Merritt practices all aspects of thoracic surgery but has special interest in minimal access surgery for gastroesophageal reflux disease, VATS lobectomy for lung cancer, and tracheal surgery. He plans to conduct outcomes research in patients undergoing thoracic surgical procedures.

Dr. Chuong Hoang, Acting Assistant Professor, practices general thoracic surgery, having had diverse exposure to re-operative thoracic surgery, lung-sparing bronchoplastic surgery, esophageal procedures, Pancoast tumors, VATS, and transcervical thymectomy. Additionally, he has a keen interest in cancer biology. He is intent on continuing his genomics research in lung cancer by establishing a thoracic oncology laboratory, with a focus on translational research aimed at identifying molecular mechanisms of metastasis. His work has appeared in prominent journals, such as Cancer Research, Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, and Chest.