Timothy L Frankel, MD
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About
Dr. Timothy L. Frankel is a faculty member within the Section of General Surgery at the University of Michigan. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Connecticut College in 2000 with a B.A. in Physics and was elected into Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his medical degree from George Washington University in 2004 and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He completed a residency in General Surgery at the University of Michigan in 2011 during which time he spent two years at the National Cancer Institute studying tumor immunology and genetic engineering. He developed techniques to genetically modify peripheral blood lymphocytes allowing them to more effectively target tumors for destruction. His work resulted in multiple publications and awards including the James Crudup Surgical Research Award. After completion of residency, he completed a two-year surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Clinical Interests
• His clinical interests are in the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies including cancers of the liver, pancreas and stomach. He has published multiple clinical papers on techniques in liver resection for colorectal metastases. He is the surgical lead for the liver tumor program at the Ann Arbor VA and has doubled the volume of liver surgery since joining. He is also establishing multidisciplinary cancer clinics to accelerate work-up and treatment of veterans with cancer. He serves as the Chair of the Commission on Cancer certified Cancer Program and was recently named Director of Comprehensive Cancer Care at the Ann Arbor VA. This role is tasked with monitoring the quality of cancer care provided at the institution and shaping policy related to the treatment of cancer patients. He has formed a cancer care navigation program staffed with providers who facilitate care of patients with newly diagnosed or suspicious tumors guiding them through evaluation and treatment.
Links
https://medresearch.umich.edu/labs-departments/labs/frankel-lab twitter
Qualifications
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FellowMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Surgery, New York, United States
2011 - 2013
Clinical Fellowship
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ResidentUniversity of Michigan Medical School, Surgery, Ann Arbor, United States
2004 - 2011
Residency
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Research Fellow, Surgical OncologyNational Cancer Institute, Surgery, Bethesda, United States
2007 - 2009
Postdoctoral Fellowship
Center Memberships
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Center Membere-Health and Artificial Intelligence Initiative
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Center MemberRogel Cancer Center
Research Overview
• Inflammation induced pancreatic cancer
• Understanding spatial relationships of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment
• Understanding the role of adipose derived progenitor cells in promoting pancreatic cancer formation in diabetics
Recent Publications
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Bhadury S, Peruzzi M, Acharyya S, Eliason J, Di Magliano MP, Frankel TL, Ravikumar V, Krishnan S, Rao A. Scientific Reports, 2026 Dec 1; 16 (1):Journal ArticleInformed spatially aware patterns for multiplexed immunofluorescence data
DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-35341-8 PMID: 41521220 -
Zhang Y, Kadiyala P, Yan W, Brown K, Avritt FR, Donahue KL, Procario MC, Okoye JO, Giridharan T, Elhossiny AM, Espinoza CE, Awad D, Lasse Opsahl EL, Medina-Cabrera PI, Velez-Delgado A, Menjivar RE, Yang OA, Yang S, He X, Gupta S, Tariq R, Brandt AR, Wang X, denDekker A, Nwosu ZC, Carpenter ES, Courtney AH, Bednar F, Frankel TL, Lyssiotis CA, Zheng B, Kryczek I, Pasca di Magliano M. Cancer Immunol Res, 2026 May 28;Journal ArticleTargeting CCR1 remodels the tumor microenvironment and relieves immune suppression in pancreatic cancer.
DOI:10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-25-1300 PMID: 42207977 -
Elhossiny AM, Kadiyala P, Okoye JO, Hiraki HL, Procario MC, Giridharan T, Watkoske HR, Tannus Ruckert M, Wang J, Griffith BD, Bray AW, Mills JN, Espinoza CE, Zeller J, Peterson N, Bednar F, Zhang Y, Rao A, Lyssiotis CA, Szczepanski JM, Shi J, Deshpande A, Maitra A, Fertig EJ, Carpenter ES, Frankel TL, Pasca di Magliano M. Cancer Discov, 2026 May 21;Journal ArticleAsynchronous evolution of epithelium and stroma differentiates precursor lesions from pancreatic cancer.
DOI:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-25-2001 PMID: 42165710 -
Henstridge A, Sahai V, Peterson N, Machicado JD, Kwon R, Schulman AR, Wamsteker E-J, Philips GM, Menees SB, Xia JY, Hogenson T, Shi J, Frankel T, Bednar F, Di Magliano MP, Lyssiotis CA, Truty MJ, Fernandez-Zapico ME, Carpenter E. Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, 2026 May 3; 103 (5): s - 2850.Journal Article296b LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF MATCHED PATIENT BIOSPECIMENS REVEALS NEURAL REPROGRAMMING OF CANCER-ASSOCIATED FIBROBLASTS FOLLOWING CHEMOTHERAPY IN PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMA
DOI:10.1016/s0016-5107(26)06672-1 -
Henstridge A, Sahai V, Peterson N, Machicado JD, Kwon R, Schulman AR, Wamsteker E-J, Philips GM, Menees SB, Xia JY, Hogenson T, Shi J, Frankel T, Bednar F, Di Magliano MP, Lyssiotis CA, Truty MJ, Fernandez-Zapico ME, Carpenter E. Gastroenterology, 2026 May 7; 170 (6): s - 2850.Journal Article296b LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF MATCHED PATIENT BIOSPECIMENS REVEALS NEURAL REPROGRAMMING OF CANCER-ASSOCIATED FIBROBLASTS FOLLOWING CHEMOTHERAPY IN PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMA
DOI:10.1016/s0016-5085(26)06741-7 -
Mbah NE, Sutton D, Hong HS, Singhal R, Menjivar RE, Perricone MD, Giza H, Sajjakulnukit P, Myers AL, Nwosu ZC, Alektiar JM, Lin J, Long D, Andren AC, Zhang L, Crawford HC, Frankel TL, Pasca di Magliano M, Franchi L, Shah YM, Lyssiotis CA. Cancer Metab, 2026 Apr 4; 14 (1):Journal ArticleTumor cell death by ferroptosis contributes to an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in syngeneic murine models of cancer.
DOI:10.1186/s40170-026-00428-3 PMID: PMC13072669 -
Zhang S, Daniels ER, McGue J, Sudharshan R, Kim HC, Thomas DG, Krishnan S, Frankel TL, Hissong E, Rao A, Assarzadegan N, Shi J. Modern Pathology, 2026 Apr 1; 39 (4):Journal ArticleElevated T Cell Immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM Domains (TIGIT) Expression and Immune Cell Dysfunction Characterize Complex Proteins Associated With SET1 (COMPASS)–Like Complex Gene–Mutated Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC)
DOI:10.1016/j.modpat.2026.100972 PMID: 41638576 -
Henstridge AZ, Arya N, Elhossiny AM, Kadiyala P, Branch G, Sahai V, Peterson N, Machicado JD, Kwon R, Schulman AR, Wamsteker E, Philips G, Menees SB, Xia JY, Hogenson TL, Rao A, Shi J, Frankel TL, Bednar F, Pasca di Magliano M, Lyssiotis CA, Truty MJ, Fernandez-Zapico ME, Carpenter ES. bioRxiv, 2026 Feb 11;Journal ArticleLongitudinal Analysis of Matched Patient Biospecimens Reveals Neural Reprogramming of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Following Chemotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer.
DOI:10.64898/2025.12.01.691614 PMID: PMC12822592
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