Umut Sarpel

Biography

Umut Sarpel, M.D. is a board-certified Surgeon who specializes in Surgical Oncology.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree with distinction in research from the University of Rochester, where she was selected to participate in the competitive “Take 5 Program”.  This program grants students an additional tuition-free year to pursue studies in other areas of interest; Dr. Sarpel used this opportunity to travel to Turkey to learn about Turkic and Ottoman History, and then to Paris to study French Art History.  She earned her medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and completed her residency at one of the top General Surgery Programs in the country, The Mount Sinai Medical Center.  Dr. Sarpel then pursued an additional two years of specialty training in the field of Surgical Oncology while attaining a Masters of Science in Clinical Research. 

At Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr. Sarpel specializes in the care of patients with cancers of the stomach, pancreas, liver, biliary tree, small bowel, and colon, as well as sarcoma and melanoma.  Her practice includes open surgery, as well as minimally invasive cancer surgery, including laparoscopic pancreatic resection, laparoscopic liver resection, and laparoscopic colectomy.  In addition, she performs innovative procedures such as Irreversible Electroporation for pancreatic cancer, and Heated Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) for the treatment of carcinomatosis. 

Dr. Sarpel, who is heavily involved in clinical and outcomes research, has published several articles in the fields of surgical oncology, hepatobiliary surgery, and healthcare disparities.  She is a recent recipient of a National Cancer Institute grant to investigate the disparities in the treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, the third leading cause of death from cancer in the world.

Furthermore, Dr. Sarpel is strongly committed to medical education and has been honored with multiple teaching awards, such as The Medical Student Teaching Award in Surgery, the House Staff Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Award.  She has authored several chapters in the "Acute Care Surgery" and "Chassin's Operative Strategy" textbooks, and is currently in the process of writing a textbook for medical students on their surgical clerkship.

Dr. Umut Sarpel is a dedicated physician who works to provide the highest standard of patient care; a compelling story of Dr. Sarpel with one of her patients was recently featured in the book "Twelve Patients.”  She is a member of the American College of Surgeons, Society of Surgical Oncology, the American HepatoPancreatoBiliary Association, as well as the International Liver Cancer Association.