Northwell Health Cancer Institute at Riverhead

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Martin Karpeh, MD, is the director of surgical oncology at the Northwell Health Cancer Institute for Northwell facilities across eastern Long Island. He is based at Huntington Hospital, where he is chair of surgery.Dr. Karpeh specializes in gastrointestinal tumors, including stomach and esophageal cancer, and cancers of the gastroesophageal junction-the area where the esophagus and stomach join. In the 1990s, he helped introduce minimally invasive laparoscopic staging techniques that now guide treatment decisions, helping doctors determine whether patients receive chemotherapy before surgery for gastroesophageal junction cancer. He also treats soft tissue sarcomas and skin cancers, including melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma and Merkel cell carcinoma.Passionate about helping others from a young age, Dr. Karpeh was inspired to go into medicine by his parents-his father was a physician, his mother a pharmacist. "I couldn't imagine doing anything else," he says.After a surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Karpeh spent more than a decade there as an attending. He then spent 20 years leading surgical oncology programs at Stony Brook University Medical Center, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center and Hackensack Meridian Health.At the Cancer Institute, a well-integrated team approach to care ensures Dr. Karpeh's patients receive the best possible treatment. "We draw on specialists from all the hospitals affiliated with the health system at our multidisciplinary tumor boards," he says.Dr. Karpeh has spent decades working in clinical trial development and frequently refers patients to national and international clinical studies. He is involved in translational research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to identify treatment targets in stomach and esophageal cancers, and has published more than 100 journal articles on stomach and gastroesophageal junction cancer.A member of the International Gastric Cancer Association, the Society of Surgical Oncology and the American Surgical Association, Dr. Karpeh is also the former president of the New York Surgical Society, New York Cancer Society and the Society of Black Academic Surgeons. Additionally, he has been named a Castle Connelly Top Doctor and New York Magazine Top Doctor over many years.His patients drive his dedication to the field. "You have to take the time to ask questions and carefully listen to your patients to understand exactly what their unique needs are," he says.