Young Ki Hong, MD, MPH, FACS, FSSO, was named Division Head of Surgical Oncology at Cooper University Health Care and MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper. Dr. Hong will replace Umur M. Atabek, MD, FACS, one of the most respected surgeons at our institution, who has been the division’s leader for more than 25 years. Dr. Atabek is moving to his new administrative leadership role in the operating rooms.
“I am proud of the growth and development of our Surgical Oncology Program and am excited about our bright future with Dr. Hong as the leader,” said Dr. Atabek. “Dr. Hong is the ideal leader of Cooper Surgical Oncology, a regional and national leader in academic surgery.”
Dr. Hong trained in general surgery at Georgetown University Hospital and completed fellowships in surgical oncology at the National Cancer Institute and University of Louisville and a hepato-pancreato-biliary fellowship at University of Louisville. He has been a faculty member of the Division of Surgical Oncology since 2018 and is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. He serves as a principal investigator for the Autologous Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TIL) Trial for patients with melanoma at Cooper (the only site in the region).
Dr. Hong has been a productive academic surgeon with more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and leadership positions in multiple prestigious national societies, including the American College of Surgeons, Society of Surgical Oncology, American Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Society, and The Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Track. He is an editor of the Annals of Surgical Oncology.