David A. Geller, MD

• Richard L. Simmons Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• Co-Director of the UPMC Liver Cancer Center

As a hepatobiliary Surgical Oncologist, Dr. Geller's clinical interests center on the evaluation and management of patients with liver cancers. He has pioneered laparoscopic liver resection surgery, and has performed more than 200 of these minimally invasive surgical procedures for liver cancers or benign liver lesions. Most of these patients are discharged home on the second post-operative day with 4-5 bandaid-sized incisions. He also specializes in performing laparoscopic radiofrequency ablations of liver tumors.

Dr. Geller has published 150 scientific papers and chapters. He is often a guest lecturer speaking on the management of liver tumors and has presented at more than 260 national meetings or seminars. He has active research grants from the NIH, and is also the Principal Investigator on industry-sponsored clinical trials for liver cancer.

His memberships in professional and scientific societies include the Society of Surgical Oncology, Society of University Surgeons, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, American Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association, and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, among many others.

Dr. Geller received his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School in 1988. He completed his general surgery residency in 1996 at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, followed by a liver transplantation fellowship at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute in 1998. He is Board Certified in General Surgery, and also holds a specialty training Certificate in Transplantation.

Selected Publications:

• Marsh JW, Geller DA, et al.The role of liver transplantation for hepatobiliary malignancy. Lancet Oncology, 2004; 5:480-8.
• Are C, Fong Y, Geller DA. Laparoscopic liver resections. Advances in Surgery, 2005; 39:57-75.
• Geller DA, Tsung A, Maheshwari V, Rutstein L, Fung JJ, Marsh JW. Hepatic resection in 170 patients using saline-cooled radiofrequency coagulation. HPB, 2005, 7:208-213.
• Gamblin TC, Geller DA. Downstaging hepatocellular carcinoma prior to liver transplantation. Liver Transplantation, 2005; 11:1466-1468.
• Tsung A and Geller DA. Work-up of the incidental liver lesion. Advances in Surgery, 2005; 39: 331-341.
• Geller DA, Tsung A, et al. Outcome of 1,000 liver cancer patients evaluated at the UPMC liver cancer center. J of Gastrointestinal Surgery, 2006; 10:63-68.
• Du Q, Park KS, Guo Z, He P, Nagashima M, Shao L, Sahai R, Geller DA, Hussain SP. Regulation of human NOS2 expression by wnt b-catenin signaling, Cancer Research, 2006; 66:7024-7031.
• Koffron, A, Geller DA, et al. Laparoscopic liver surgery – shifting the management of liver tumors. Hepatology, 2006; 44:1694-700.
• Steel J, Geller DA, et al. Depression, immunity, and survival in patients with hepatobiliary carcinoma. J Clin Oncology, 2007, 25:2397-2405.
• Balaa FK, Gamblin TC, Geller DA. Right hemihepatectomy for metastatic cloacogenic carcinoma using the staple technique. Ann Surg Onc, 2008; 15:233-234.
• Balaa FK, Tsung A, Gamblin TC, Marsh JW, Geller DA, Right Hepatic Lobectomy Using the Staple Technique in 101 Patients, J GI Surgery, 2008, In press.