Elliot Wakeam, M.D.
Mesothelioma.net content reviewer and editor
- Medical degree from Jefferson Medical College, 2010, graduated magna cum laude
- Completed residency and fellowships in thoracic surgery and lung transplant at the University of Toronto and Toronto General Hospital
- Master’s in Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health
- Assistant professor and surgeon-investigator, University of Toronto and Toronto General Hospital
- Current research includes clinical trials in lung transplants and thoracic cancers, such as pleural mesothelioma
Elliot Wakeam, M.D., is an assistant professor in thoracic surgery at the University of Toronto.[1] He is a part of the school’s Lung Transplant Program and also treats patients with pleural mesothelioma. He has been instrumental in developing and implementing the innovative SMART protocol for treating pleural mesothelioma.
Experience
Following medical school, Dr. Wakeam returned home to Toronto for a general surgical and thoracic surgical residency at the University of Toronto and Princess Margaret Cancer Center. He also earned a master’s degree in public health at the same time through the Harvard School of Public Health.[2]
During his residency, he earned the Resident Mentor Award. This honor demonstrated success as a resident mentor and a role model in his graduating class.[1]
Dr. Wakeam’s fellowship work included thoracic surgery and lung transplantation at Toronto General Hospital. He also completed a fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Center for Surgery and Public Health.[1]
Areas of Specialty and Research
During his time at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center, Dr. Wakeam saw many patients with pleural mesothelioma, a challenging cancer to treat. He was part of a pioneering new protocol for treating these patients, called the SMART protocol.
SMART resulted in improved survival times for patients.[3] Dr. Wakeam brought the SMART protocol to the University of Michigan for further study, especially in combination with immunotherapy, and to provide patients with more options.
In addition to the SMART protocol, Dr. Wakeam’s research interests include how healthcare is delivered, with a focus on efficiency and quality.
He studies strategies surgeons use to rescue patients from complications while recovering from procedures, surgical treatments for small cell lung cancer, neuroendocrine lung cancer, thymoma, and breast cancer in the chest wall, and lung transplantation.[4]
Dr. Wakeam is board-certified in surgery and is a member of the American Association of Thoracic Surgery, the Canadian Association of Thoracic Surgery, the American College of Surgeons, and the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada in both general and thoracic surgery and is certified by the American Board of Surgery.[2]