Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli
A world-renowned leader in the field of breast cancer, Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli has been appointed as the Director of Breast Medical Oncology in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, WDOM, effective January 10, 2021.
Dr. Cristofanilli will be responsible for development of breast cancer programs and patient enrollment for clinical trials. Under his leadership, advancements in the overall clinical enterprise will be driven by innovation and excellence. Dr. Cristofanilli will also lead an increase in scholarly productivity and recruitment of the next generation of exemplary academic breast oncologists. Dr. Cristofanilli’s work on programmatic development of breast medical oncology will encompass the Weill Cornell campus, NYP/Queens, NYP/Methodist, and NYP/Lower Manhattan.
Dr. Cristofanilli was recruited from the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, where he had served as the Associate Director of Translational Research and Precision Medicine and as Director of the OncoSET Precision Medicine Program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. In the latter role, he pioneered precision medicine in cancer combining oncology with genomic sequencing. Dr. Cristofanilli served as a Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University and was the G. Morris Dorrance Jr. Endowed Chair in Medical Oncology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.
For more than two decades, Dr. Cristofanilli has remained at the forefront of critical research on breast cancer earning substantial funding from the NIH, NCI, private foundations, and industrial sources. He is a leading expert on the management of breast cancer with a focus on inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), locally advanced breast cancer (LABC), and metastatic breast cancer (MBC). His many scientific advances in the field of breast cancer include novel biomarkers (endocrine), findings on circulating tumor cells, and drug development with a focus on endocrine therapy.
Dr. Cristofanilli is a Member of the ODAC-FDA and serves as President of both the ISLB and the IBC-IC. He is a Grants Panel Reviewer for the AACR and the NCCN (Breast Cancer). He has published more than 275 papers in the peer-reviewed journals and is the recipient of the METAvivors Founders Award (METAvivors Research and Support Inc.), “Cavaliere del Lavoro” (Knight of the Italian Republic) for outstanding scientific contribution, Outstanding Educator and Distinguished Alumnus awards from The University of Texas-M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 2012 Giovan Giacomo Giordano NIAF Lifetime Achievement Award for Ethics and Creativity in Medical Research, and 2015 IBC Foundation Impact Award, Chicago.
Dr. Cristofanilli obtained his M.D. from The University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy, where he completed a Fellowship in Medical Oncology. He served his residency training, including as Chief Resident, at Cabrini Medical Center, New York City. He completed an additional Fellowship in Medical Oncology at the University of Texas/M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
The Weill Department of Medicine is delighted to welcome Dr. Cristofanilli to the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology.