Valerie W. Rusch, MD, FACS

• Lisa Hyde-Barrett

Dr. Rusch serves as Vice Chair for Clinical Research of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s Department of Surgery as well as Chief of Thoracic Service. She has 25 years of experience as a thoracic surgeon, and was one of the first women in the country to be board certified in thoracic surgery.

Dr. Rusch received her medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and completed a residency in General Surgery and Thoracic Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle. She specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with cancers of the lung, airways, esophagus, mediastinum, chest wall and pleura. She is one of the pioneers of using surgery for mesothelioma, in particular Extra Pleural Pneumonectomy and pleurectomy.

Dr. Rusch has co-authored several books and book chapters concerning thoracic surgery and the treatment of mesothelioma and lung cancer, as well as hundreds of peer-reviewed articles. She also serves as Chair of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, a Regent of the American College of Surgeons, Chair of the Lung and Esophagus Task Force of the American Joint Commission on Cancer, and Chair of the Mesothelioma Subcommittee of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer’s Staging Committee.

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