Colon and Rectal Surgery Division Research

The Division’s research program includes clinical trials of new approaches to advance patient care. We are now, for example, conducting trials focused on minimally invasive treatment of hemorrhoids using transanal hemorrhoidal dearterialization (THD) artery ligation, use of fluid management during surgery to improve postoperative recovery after colon resection, and use of laparoscopy for rectal cancer resection.

The Division’s basic and translational research is currently focused on the development of stem cell therapy for colon cancer. We are now attempting to assess the ability of mesenchymal stem cells to provide a delivery system for a silencing RNA through cell-to-cell connections involving gap junction channels. We hypothesize this treatment will result in regression of tumor size.

In addition, the Division’s faculty members are active participants in various regional, national, and international research groups, and in this capacity they participate in both basic/translational and clinical research initiatives. This collaborative work is demonstrated in their many publications.

Our faculty's publications demonstrate their high level of accomplishment as physician-scientists committed to advancing scientific knowledge to improve patient care. They also demonstrate our contribution to the best ideas in medicine that define Stony Brook Medicine.

For more information about our current clinical trials, please email our department research coordinator Andreea Fodor, PhD, or call her at 631-444-8333.

In addition, all our active trials are registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov. This online resource provided by the National Institutes of Health is a registry of clinical trials conducted in the United States, and it offers information about each trial's purpose and who may participate in it, among other details.