Overview
Dr. Omar Barakat is a general surgeon specializing in benign and malignant diseases of the liver, bile duct, gallbladder, and pancreas. He is an Associate Professor of Surgery - Division of Surgical Oncology at Baylor College of Medicine and Medical Director of the Neuroendocrine Tumor Program at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center.Dr. Barakat’s clinical interests include: malignant hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases, liver and pancreas surgery; upper gastrointestinal surgery; neuroendocrine tumors; gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST); and minimally invasive surgery.Dr. Barakat has developed new surgical techniques to minimize the complication rate and blood loss following pancreatic and liver surgeries. He utilizes image-guided therapies, such as radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, irreversible electroporation (NanoKnife system), trans-arterial chemotherapy, and selective internal radiotherapy (SIRT) with Yttrium-90 microspheres, to treat liver tumors while minimizing trauma to the patients. Dr. Barakat's clinical and research interests also include the study of neuroendocrine tumors; and the development of off-the-shelf bio-artificial liver organs that can be suitable for liver transplantation in patients with end-stage liver disease.Dr. Barakat received his medical degree from Aleppo University Medical School in Aleppo, Syria. He completed a residency in general surgery at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia and a Fellowship in cardiovascular surgery research at State University of New York - Buffalo. He also completed clinical fellowships in liver transplantation at The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston; and in heart transplantation and mechanical assist devices aat the Texas Heart Institute. He continued his practice in liver and pancreatic surgery at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle Upon-Tyne, United Kingdom, where he treated complex and rare tumors of the liver, bile duct, and pancreas. Dr. Barakat is board-certified by the Royal College of Surgeons (Ed), United Kingdom, where he is also a Fellow.
Dr. Barakat is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in Splenectomy. His top areas of expertise are Chronic Pancreatitis, Gallbladder Disease, Pancreatic Cancer, Pancreaticoduodenectomy, and Pancreatectomy.
His clinical research consists of co-authoring 23 peer reviewed articles and participating in 1 clinical trial. MediFind looks at clinical research from the past 15 years.
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- INDEMNITY
- POS
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- INSURANCE PLAN
- MANAGED MEDICAID PLAN
- MEDICARE MAPD
- MEDICARE PDP
- MEDICARE SNP
- MEDICARE-MEDICAID PLAN
- OTHER MEDICARE PART D
- MANAGED MEDICAID PLAN
- MEDICARE-MEDICAID PLAN
- OTHER COMMERCIAL
- EPO
- HMO
- POS
- PPO
- EPO
- HMO
- INSURANCE PLAN
- MANAGED MEDICAID PLAN
- MEDICARE MAPD
- MEDICARE PDP
- MEDICARE SNP
- MEDICARE-MEDICAID PLAN
- OTHER MEDICARE
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Locations
Clinical Research
Clinical research consists of overseeing clinical studies of patients undergoing new treatments and therapies, and publishing articles in peer reviewed medical journals. Providers who actively participate in clinical research are generally at the forefront of the fields and aware of the most up-to-date advances in treatments for their patients.
1 Clinical Trials
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 Splenectomy. 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 Splenectomy. His top areas of expertise are Pancreatic Cancer, Gallbladder Adenocarcinoma, Gallbladder Cancer, Splenectomy, and Pancreatectomy.
Office
Jenny Despotovic is a Hematologist and an Oncologist in Houston, Texas. Dr. Despotovic is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in Splenectomy. Her top areas of expertise are Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), Blood Clots, Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency, Evans Syndrome, and Splenectomy.
Areas of Expertise
MediFind evaluates expertise by pulling from factors such as number of articles a doctor has published in medical journals, participation in clinical trials, speaking at industry conferences, prescribing and referral patterns, and strength of connections with other experts in their field.
Learn more about MediFind’s expert tiers
- Advanced
- CholecystitisDr. Barakat isAdvanced. Learn about Cholecystitis.
- CholedocholithiasisDr. Barakat isAdvanced. Learn about Choledocholithiasis.
- CholestasisDr. Barakat isAdvanced. Learn about Cholestasis.
- Chronic PancreatitisDr. Barakat isAdvanced. Learn about Chronic Pancreatitis.
- Familial Pancreatic CancerDr. Barakat isAdvanced. Learn about Familial Pancreatic Cancer.
- Gallbladder DiseaseDr. Barakat isAdvanced. Learn about Gallbladder Disease.
- Experienced
- Acute PancreatitisDr. Barakat isExperienced. Learn about Acute Pancreatitis.
- Ampullary CancerDr. Barakat isExperienced. Learn about Ampullary Cancer.
- Bile Duct StrictureDr. Barakat isExperienced. Learn about Bile Duct Stricture.
- CellulitisDr. Barakat isExperienced. Learn about Cellulitis.
- Childhood PancreatitisDr. Barakat isExperienced. Learn about Childhood Pancreatitis.
- Cholangiocarcinoma (Bile Duct Cancer)Dr. Barakat isExperienced. Learn about Cholangiocarcinoma (Bile Duct Cancer).