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Dr. Kiran K. Turaga is a practicing surgical oncologist with an interest in metastatic cancer. He is currently the Chief of Surgical Oncology at Yale School of Medicine and the Assistant Director of CTO, Yale Cancer Center. He was previously the Vice Chief of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology at the University of Chicago and the program director for the CGSO Fellowship Program at the University of Chicago, which is among the oldest fellowship programs in the country. He completed his medical education at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and his residency at Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha. He completed his fellowship in surgical oncology at the Moffitt Cancer Center with additional training at the University of Pittsburgh in robotic and peritoneal surgery. Dr. Turaga’s interest in peritoneal surface malignancies led to the establishment of one of the largest programs for PSM at the University of Chicago. The program was the steering site for the development and publication of national guidelines in the management of peritoneal surface disease. Supported by over 1.5 millions dollars of research support, Dr. Turaga and his team have developed novel biomarkers for “liquid biopsy” for patients with peritoneal disease, which in conjunction with novel imaging forms the basis for two separate clinical trials. He is currently the principal investigator for 3 clinical trials that explore novel ways of utilizing immunotherapy and including locoregional therapies in the management of metastatic disease. Dr. Turaga also works actively in improving the work place for surgeons. Working with the Booth School of Business, he has developed novel tools for alignment of RVUs with operating room block time. He has pioneered novel measurement of team satisfaction in the operating room and has co-developed a tool to create effective teams in the operating room. He has published over 200 articles, book chapters and is the Section Editor for the Annals of Surgical Oncology. He has mentored several faculty, fellows, residents, students and undergraduate students over his career, several of whom have independently developed academic careers. He has won the Golden Apple Award for resident teaching, and the highest awards for clinical distinction at the Medical College of Wisconsin (Excellence in Professionalism) and the University of Chicago (Distinguished Faculty). He is also a senior scholar at the Bucksbaum Institute of Clinical Excellence that focuses on fostering the patient-doctor relationship. He lives in New Haven with his wife Gargi, a practicing dentist and his two children.

What do you do with Data Science?

We are interested in using EMR based data to create a platform for registry based clinical trials and for data driven discovery in the care of patients with peritoneal metastases. We are interested in the interface of large data, LLMs and clinical care.

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