About

About Me

With more than 23 years of experience, Dr. Sam Yoon was appointed Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology and Vice-Chair of Surgical Oncology Research and Education at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) in 2021. He is a worldwide expert in the treatment of patients with sarcomas and other soft tissue tumors, gastric (stomach) and gastroesophageal junction cancers, and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). 

As a principal investigator on multiple clinical trials examining novel treatment strategies, he has given numerous invited national and international lectures on these cancers. Gastric cancer is the third-highest cause of cancer death worldwide, with over one million new cases diagnosed annually, leading to more than 750,000 deaths.

Patients Seek Dr. Yoon’s Expertise

His expertise and treatment are well regarded in the community, and patients from all over the tri-state area seek his professional services. He has earned accolades for his quality and patient-centered care. In 2010-2011 and 2017-2020, he was named one of the Best Doctors in America. His practices are at CUIMC/Herbert Irving Pavilion, New York City; Bronxville and Cortland Manor, New York; and Englewood, New Jersey.

His Pedigree Education

Dr. Yoon graduated from Harvard University and obtained his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego. He completed his general surgery residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a surgical oncology fellowship at the prestigious Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, one of 72 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. 

An Impressive Medical Career Trajectory

Before joining CUIMC, he served as an Attending Surgeon in the Division of Gastric and Mixed Tumors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and as a Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College. He also formerly worked as an Associate Professor of Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School before joining the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 2012.

A Pioneer in His Field

Dr. Yoon was an early proponent of minimally invasive robotic surgery and has performed over 300 robotic procedures, including robotic gastrectomies. Robotic surgery allows doctors to operate with a few small incisions (cuts) rather than a single large incision, as in traditional open surgeries. In this regard, it is similar to another minimally invasive surgery known as laparoscopic surgery. However, unlike laparoscopic surgery, robotic surgery employs a higher-resolution camera and more modern tools attached to a four-armed robot.

He is also renowned for having the world’s most experienced in performing prophylactic total gastrectomies for patients with hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC) syndrome secondary to germline CDH1 mutation. He pioneered a technique to connect the small bowel to the esophagus after total gastrectomy that former surgical trainees and colleagues currently use throughout the country due to its meager leakage rate. 

Dr. Sam Yoon is part of a multi-institution research group funded by Stand Up To Cancer and the DeGregorio Family Foundation for Gastric and Esophageal Cancer Research, which aims to discover early diagnostics and new therapies for gastric cancer. In 2019, while a surgical oncologist specializing in gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Center, he and Sandra Ryeom, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, were awarded $100,000 by the DeGregorio Family Foundation.

In 2020, Columbia researchers and physicians, co-led by Ms. Ryeom and Dr. Yoon, were awarded $3 million to analyze novel diagnostic tests that can detect gastric cancer earlier than current modalities.

His clinical and research efforts have led to over 150 original research articles, book chapters, and reviews. 

He has served on the editorial boards of several medical journals, including the Annals of Surgical Oncology and the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery.

Honored for His Work

Dr. Yoon has received several awards for the work he has accomplished during his prolific career, including the American College of Surgeons/Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract Health Policy Scholar Award (2019-2020); Runner-up, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Surgical Oncology Fellows’ Teacher of the Year (2018-2019 and 2019-2020); 2017 Paper of the Year Award, New England Surgical Society; Josef E. Fischer International Traveling Fellowship Award for Surgeons in Academic Practice; Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (2012); and Clinical Investigator Award, Society for Surgical Oncology (2009-2011).

A Golfer at Heart

As a young boy, he played the sport with a golf course next to his childhood home. He loves the social aspect of golf and the opportunity to exercise and free his mind while on the greens. 

A few years ago, Dr. Sam Yoon took up the art of woodworking after taking an online course and has been perfecting his craft ever since. You can see his work on Instagram. “Woodworking allows me to work my hands, bring my visions to life, and create something everlasting.”