Dr. Michael S. Belew

Dr. William E. Fisher is Professor and Vice-Chair for Clinical Affairs, Department of Surgery and the George L. Jordan, M.D. Chair in General Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Fisher also serves as Director of the Elkins Pancreas Center at BCM; and is Vice President, Medical Staff and Chief of the Surgery Service Line at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center.An internationally-known leader in pancreatic surgery, Dr. Fisher has focused entirely on surgery for pancreatic tumors and cysts in his practice for over 20 years and has extensive experience in advanced, minimally-invasive robotic pancreas surgery.Dr. Fisher’s professional interests include: pancreaticoduodenectomy (Whipple procedure); minimally invasive/laparoscopic/robotic pancreatic surgery; pancreas cancer; distal and central pancreatectomy; pancreas resection; surgical oncology; common bile duct resection; Puestow procedure; Frey procedure; and laparoscopic pancreatectomy.Dr. Fisher has served as PI of two NIH-funded multicenter randomized clinical trials that generated practice-changing impact on the use of drains during pancreatectomy, and the subsequent development of a multicenter pancreatic-surgery-outcomes consortium. His basic science lab has studied the influence of gastrointestinal hormones on pancreatic cancer growth, the relationship between diabetes and pancreatic cancer, and genomic analysis of pancreatic cancer, resulting in over 160 peer-reviewed publications.Having served as principal investigator on more than 15 clinical trials for patients with pancreatic cancer, Dr. Fisher is currently PI at BCM for the NIH Consortium to Study Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes and Pancreatic Cancer.Dr. Fisher received a B.A. from Wittenberg University and earned his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.  He held a research fellowship and completed his residency at The Ohio State University.Among his numerous honors and awards, Dr. Fisher has been recognized as one of America’s Top Doctors for Cancer (Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.), Top 1% of Doctors in the U.S. (U.S. News and World Report), and “Texas Super Doctor” (Texas Monthly). He is also the recipient of the Master Clinician Award for Excellence in Patient Care from BCM and has twice received the DeBakey Distinguished Service Award from the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at BCM. Dr. Fisher is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Childhood Pancreatitis. His top areas of expertise are Chronic Pancreatitis, Pancreatic Cancer, Hereditary Pancreatitis, Pancreaticoduodenectomy, and Pancreatectomy.

George Van Buren, II, M.D. is an associate professor of surgery in the Division of Surgical Oncology of the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Van Buren is a board-certified surgeon specializing surgical oncology and pancreatic disorders.A native Houstonian, Dr. Van Buren earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin and his medical degree at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He completed his general surgery residency at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. During that time period, he spent two years at MD Anderson Cancer Center as an NIH T32 research fellow studying pancreatic cancer and neuroendocrine tumors. He completed his surgical oncology fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in the Translational Pancreas Research Track.During Dr. Van Buren’s research and clinical fellowships, he was able to expand upon his interest in gastrointestinal surgical oncology and pancreatic disorders. Specifically, his training had a heavy emphasis on pancreatic and gastric malignancies with exposure to wide breadth of cases, including specialized procedures such as robotic pancreatic surgery.Dr. Van Buren is active in both patient care and research. He has spent over 15 years in training and in practice focusing on care for patients with pancreatic and gastrointestinal malignancies. He is involved in both basic science and clinical research and believes heavily in the surgeon’s role as a leader of the translational research team. His goals are to provide high quality clinical care while offering his patients access to innovative clinical and therapeutic trials. He is a member of the Elkins Pancreas Center and Dan L. Duncan NCI Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Van Buren is rated as an Advanced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Childhood Pancreatitis. His top areas of expertise are Pancreatic Cancer, Gallbladder Adenocarcinoma, Gallbladder Cancer, Splenectomy, and Pancreatectomy.

John Abdelsayed is a General Surgeon in Sugar Land, Texas. Dr. Abdelsayed is rated as an Advanced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Childhood Pancreatitis. His top areas of expertise are Cholecystitis, Gallbladder Disease, Retroperitoneal Inflammation, Hernia Surgery, and Small Bowel Resection.