Timothy L Frankel, MD

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.

• 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