Surgery Oncologist Named Surgery Chair

Barish Edil, M.D., has been named chairman and a professor of the Department of Surgery at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. He will hold the John A. Schilling Chair in Surgery. He will see patients at the Stephenson Cancer Center and OU Physicians.

Edil is board certified in surgery and holds certificates in hepto-pancreatic surgery and surgical oncology. He is specifically interested in diagnosing and treating patients with cancers and other conditions of the pancreas, bile duct, liver, stomach, adrenal and sarcoma. He is a pioneer in performing a laparoscopic Whipple surgical procedure for treating pancreatic cancer.

Edil comes to OU from the University of Colorado, Denver, where he has served as chief of Surgical Oncology and director of its Pancreas and Biliary Surgery Program. While there, his team discovered a new cancer vaccine, which is currently being developed for clinical trials. Previously, he served as faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, where he developed the techniques and performed the first laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (referred to commonly as the “Whipple”) operation in the history of the hospital. He had previously spent two years in post-doctoral training, earned a certificate in surgical oncology and completed additional training in cancer immunology at Johns Hopkins University. He completed a research fellowship in surgical oncology and his general surgical residency at the OU College of Medicine. He earned his medical degree at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Madison.

Edil has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in leading surgery textbooks. He has been an invited lecturer in the field of surgery, most notably in the areas of laparoscopic Whipple surgery, minimally invasive surgical oncology and cancer immunology. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and is active in a number of national societies.

With more than 1,000 doctors and advanced practice providers, OU Physicians is the state’s largest physician group. The practice encompasses almost every adult and child specialty. Many OU Physicians have expertise in the management of complex conditions that is unavailable anywhere else in the state, region or sometimes even the nation. Some have pioneered surgical procedures or innovations in patient care that are world firsts.

OU Physicians see patients in their offices at the OU Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City and at clinics in Edmond, Midwest City, Lawton and other cities around Oklahoma. When hospitalization is necessary, they often admit patients to OU Medical Center. Many also care for their patients in other hospitals around the metro area. OU Physicians serve as faculty at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and train the region’s future physicians.