April 17, 2017, PHILADELPHIA — Ronald P. DeMatteo, MD, FACS, has been named chair of the department of Surgery in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. DeMatteo is a surgical oncologist who is nationally recognized for his expertise in treating liver, gallbladder and bile duct and pancreatic diseases, and abdominal sarcomas. He joins Penn, where he completed his surgical residency and postdoctoral fellowship, from 20 years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he most recently served as the vice chair of the department of Surgery and head of the division of general surgical oncology. He is also a professor of Surgery and an associate dean at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

DeMatteo will assume his new post July 1, 2017. He will lead a department which includes 130 faculty across 11 divisions who provide advanced patient care, conduct a robust portfolio of basic science and clinical research.

“We’re excited to have Dr. DeMatteo return to Penn and take the helm of our department of Surgery,” said J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, dean of the Perelman School of Medicine and executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System. “He is an exceptional choice to lead our team of talented clinicians and researchers as they continue to provide the highest level of care to patients, and forge new ground in the crucial research necessary to develop the next generation of surgical innovations.”
Over the course of his career, Dr. DeMatteo has made significant research advances in the development of therapies to help prevent tumors from returning after surgery. He has served as the principal investigator on three national trials of the adjuvant drug imatinib following surgery to remove gastrointestinal stromal tumors, leading to approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a new standard of care for the disease worldwide. His clinical and laboratory research has resulted in a substantial body of scholarly work in high-impact journals including the Lancet, Lancet Oncology, Nature Medicine, and the Journal of Clinical Investigation. His research has been supported by $17 million in funding, including several grants from the National Institutes of Health and generous gifts from patients and philanthropic foundations. A well-respected educator, he was the director of the surgical oncology fellowship program for 7 years and has mentored more than 135 clinical and laboratory fellows.

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