Anil K Rustgi, MD

Gastroenterology
Genetic Counseling
More specialties
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Overview

Anil K. Rustgi is the Director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Dr. Rustgi is a world-renowned leader in the field of gastrointestinal oncology. His interdisciplinary research focuses on tumor initiation, the tumor microenvironment and tumor metastasis in the context of gastrointestinal cancers, including cancer of the esophagus, pancreas, and colon. Dr. Rustg's lab works to translate their discoveries into improving molecular diagnostics and finding new experimental therapeutics for patients, and is funded through several grants including an NCI P01 (program project on esophageal cancer), an NCI U54 on Barrett's esophagus, two NIH R01 grants (for pancreatic cancer and colon cancer) and an American Cancer Society Research Professorship. He has more than 300 publications and his work has appeared in high-impact journals such as Nature, Nature Genetics, Nature Medicine, Cancer Cell, Genes and Development, Gastroenterology, Journal of Clinical Investigation, PNAS and New England Journal of Medicine.

He has been elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Previously, he was president of the American Gastroenterological Association (17,000 members), editor-in-chief of Gastroenterology, and president of the International Society of Gastroenterological Carcinogenesis. Dr. Rustgi will serve as president of the American Pancreatic Association.

He has been recognized for his contributions with numerous awards, including the AGA Julius Friedenwald Lifetime Achievement in Gastroenterology Medal (2017), AGA Distinguished Mentor Award (2016), the Ruth C. Brufsky Award for Excellence in Research in Pancreatic Cancer (2013), the Distinguished Achievement Award from the South Asian American Society for Cancer Research (2012), and an American Cancer Society Research Professorship. In addition he received the top mentorship awards (Arthur Asbury for faculty and one from the postdoctoral fellow program) from his tenure at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Rustgi graduated summa cum laude from Yale College with a bachelor's degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry (departmental honors) and earned his medical degree at Duke University School of Medicine, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honorary society. He completed an internal medicine residency at Beth Israel Hospital and a GI fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), both of which are affiliates of Harvard Medical School. He also rose to associate professor of medicine at MGH before joining the University of Pennsylvania in 1998, where he served as Chief of Gastroenterology and directed two Centers and NIH T32 training grants until 2018.

Areas of Expertise / Conditions Treated

  • Gastrointestinal Cancer
  • Genetic Screening

Academic Appointments

  • Herbert and Florence Irving Professor of Medicine

Administrative Titles

  • Herbert and Florence Irving Director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC)
  • Associate Dean of Oncology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
  • Chief, Cancer Services, New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center campus
  • Special Advisor to the President, Cancer Programs and Strategies

Hospital Affiliations

  • NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Gender

  • Male

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Location(s)

161 Fort Washington Avenue
New York, NY 10032

Insurance Accepted

Aetna

  • Aetna Signature Administrators
  • EPO
  • HMO
  • Medicare Managed Care
  • NYP Employee Plan
  • NY Signature
  • POS
  • PPO
  • Student Health

Affinity Health Plan

  • Essential Plan
  • Medicaid Managed Care

AgeWell

  • Medicare Managed Care
  • Special Needs

Amida Care

  • Special Needs

Cigna

  • EPO
  • Great West (National)
  • HMO
  • Medicare Managed Care
  • POS
  • PPO

Emblem/GHI

  • Medicare Managed Care
  • PPO

Emblem/HIP

  • ConnectiCare
  • EPO
  • Essential Plan
  • HMO
  • Medicaid Managed Care
  • Medicare Managed Care
  • POS
  • PPO
  • Select Care (Exchange)
  • Vytra

Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield

  • EPO
  • HMO
  • Medicare Managed Care
  • PPO

Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield HealthPlus

  • Child/Family Health Plus
  • Essential Plan
  • Medicaid Managed Care

Fidelis Care

  • Child/Family Health Plus
  • Essential Plan
  • Medicaid Managed Care
  • Medicare Managed Care

Healthfirst

  • Child/Family Health Plus
  • Leaf (Exchange)
  • Medicaid Managed Care
  • Medicare Managed Care

Local 1199

  • Local 1199

MagnaCare (National)

  • MagnaCare

Medicare

  • Railroad
  • Traditional Medicare

Multiplan

  • Multiplan

MVP Health Care

  • Child/Family Health Plus
  • Essential Plan
  • HMO
  • Medicaid Managed Care

Quality Health Management

  • Quality Health Management

RiverSpring

  • Special Needs

UnitedHealthcare

  • Compass (Exchange)
  • Empire Plan
  • HMO
  • Medicaid (Community Plan)
  • Medicare Managed Care
  • Oxford Freedom
  • Oxford HMO
  • Oxford Liberty
  • POS
  • PPO

VNSNY CHOICE

  • Medicare Managed Care
  • SelectHealth
  • Special Needs

WellCare

  • Medicaid Managed Care
  • Medicare Managed Care

World Trade Center Health Plan

  • World Trade Center Health Plan

*Please contact the provider’s office directly to verify that your particular insurance is accepted.

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • MD, Medicine, Duke University
  • BS, Molecular Biochemistry & Biophysics, Yale University
  • Internship: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School
  • Fellowship: Massachuetts General Hospital

Committees, Societies, Councils

1996-2001: Associate Editor, Gastroenterology

2000-2010: Associate Editor, Cancer Research,

2006-2011: Editor-in-Chief, Gastroenterology;

2007-2012: Consulting Editor for Journal of Clinical Investigation

2011-2013: President, International Society of GI carcinogenesis

2010-2012: Vice President, AGA

2012-2013: President Elect, AGA

2013-2014: President, AGA

2019-2020: President, American Pancreas Association

Board Certifications

  • Gastroenterology

Honors & Awards

1980 Summa cum laude and Department Honors in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT

1983 Davison Scholarship for Study of Tropical Diseases in Brazil, Duke University Medical School, Durham, NC

1984 Alpha Omega Alpha and Trent Prize in the History of Medicine, Duke University Medical School, Durham, NC

1987 New England Endoscopy Society Winner for Clinical Study

1991-1995 NIH Clinical Investigator Award

1995 AGA Fiterman Basic Science Research Award (Walter B. Cannon Award)

1996 AGA Funderberg Research Award in Gastric Cancer Biology

1996 American Cancer Society Jr. Faculty Research Award

1997 GRG/AGA Young Investigator Award for Research Achievement in Gastroenterology

1999 Osler Society (Interurban Club) Young Investigator Award

1999 Elected to American Society of Clinical Investigation

2007 Elected to the American Association of Physicians (AAP)

2009 American Cancer Society Research Professor

2010-2014 Selected to NIDDK Council

2012 Arthur Asbury Distinguished Faculty Mentor Award, University of Pennsylvania; and, Biomedical Postdoctoral Program Distinguished Mentor Award, Philadelphia, PA

2013 AGA GI Oncology Distinguished Mentor Award

2013 The Ruth C. Brufsky Award for Excellence in Research in Pancreatic Cancer

2016 AGA Distinguished Mentorship Award

2017 AGA Julius Friedenwald Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award

2017 Elected to Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science

2017 Elected to Membership, American Clinical and Climatological Association

2019 Election to National Academy of Medicine

Research

Our group has been dedicated with passion to the elucidation of mechanisms underlying GI epithelial biology as well as precancerous conditions. We are interested in tumor initiation, the tumor microenvironment, and tumor metastasis. As part of this effort, our group has developed innovative 3D organoid culture model systems, xenograft implantation (subcutaneous and orthotopic) and genetically engineered mouse models, especially those that reflect cancers of the esophagus, pancreas and colon. We seek to translate these discoveries into novel and innovative diagnostics and therapeutics. We have published extensively in these topics in Cancer Cell, Developmental Cell, Genes and Development, JCI, PNAS, Nature, Nature Genetics, Nature Protocols, and Gastroenterology. Our work bridges basic science to translational medicine; and includes clinical studies in the genetics of hereditary GI cancers. Additionally, our efforts in GI epithelial biology research have spawned our lab personnel obtaining independent faculty positions with their own federal funding.

Selected Publications

Reichert M, Bakir B, Moreira L, Pitarresi JR, Feldmann K, Simon L, Suzuki K, Maddipati R, Rhim AD, Schlitter AM, Kriegsmann M, Weichert W, Wirth M, Schuck K, Schneider G, Saur D, Reynolds AB, Klein-Szanto AJ, Pehlivanoglu B, Memis B, Adsay NV, Rustgi AK. Regulation of Epithelial Plasticity Determines Metastatic Organotropism in Pancreatic Cancer. Developmental Cell 2018 Jun 18;45(6):696-711. PMID:29920275

Chatterji P, Hamilton KE, Liang S, Andres SF, Wijeratne HRS, Mizuno R, Simon LA, Hicks PD, Foley SW, Pitarresi JR, Klein-Szanto AJ, Mah AT, Van Landeghem L, Gregory BD, Lengner CJ, Madison BB, Shah P, Rustgi AK. The LIN28B-IMP1 post-transcriptional regulon has opposing effects on oncogenic signaling in the intestine. Genes and Development 2018 Aug 1;32(15-16):1020-1034. PMID:30068703

Stairs DB, Bayne LJ, Rhoades B, Vega ME, Waldron TJ, Kalabis J, Klein-Szanto A, Lee JS, Katz JP, Diehl JA, Reynolds AB, Vonderheide RH, Rustgi AK. Deletion of p120-catenin results in a tumor microenvironment with inflammation and cancer that establishes it as a tumor suppressor gene. Cancer Cell 2011 Apr 12;19(4):470-83. PMID:21481789