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Raymond Sawaya, M.D.

Department of Neurosurgery, Division of Surgery

About Dr. Sawaya

Dr. Raymond Sawaya has been the Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston since the department was established in 1990. He also serves as the Director of the Brain Tumor Center at MD Anderson and from 2005-2014 served as Professor and Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery, at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Sawaya is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Anne C. Brooks & Anthony D. Bullock, III, Distinguished Chair in Neurosurgery. He is the past President of the American Radium Society and the past President of the Houston Neurological Society and past Chairman of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons Section on Tumors. Dr. Sawaya is a member of the editorial board of numerous medical journals. He is frequently requested as a national and international lecturer. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and written and edited more than 10 books. Dr. Sawaya is a noted leader in the field of neurosurgery with particular expertise in primary and metastatic brain tumors, third ventricle, brain stem and pineal region tumors. He is also renowned for his great strides in enhancing the accessibility and safety of brain tumor surgery.

Department of Neurosurgery Celebrates 25 Years with Dr. Sawaya

Meet Dr. Sawaya

Present Title & Affiliation

Primary Appointment

Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment

Adjunct Professor, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Education & Training

Degree-Granting Education

1974	St. Joseph University, Beirut, LBN, MD, Medicine

Postgraduate Training

1981-1981	Chief Resident in Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD
1976-1977	Residency Pediatric Neurosurgery, Pediatric Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
1976-1981	Residency in Neurosurgery (PGY 3 - PGY 7), Department of Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH
1975-1976	Residency in Surgery (PGY 2), Surgery, Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, NY
1974-1975	Surgical Internship, Surgical Internship (PGY l), Beekman Downtown, New York, NY

Board Certifications

1985	American Board of Neurological Surgery

Experience & Service

Academic Appointments

Professor and Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 2005 - 2014

Professional Memberships

American Radium Society, Los Angeles, CA

Member of the Scientific Program Committee, 2012 - 2013

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Weathers SP, Penas-Prado M, Pei BL, Ling X, Kassab C, Banerjee P, Bdiwi M, Shaim H, Alsuliman A, Shanley M, de Groot JF, O'Brien BJ, Harrison R, Majd N, Kamiya-Matsuoka C, Fuller GN, Huse JT, Chi L, Rao G, Weinberg JS, Lang FF, Sawaya R, Shpall EJ, Rezvani K, Heimberger AB. Glioblastoma-mediated immune dysfunction limits CMV-specific T cells and therapeutic responses; results from a Phase I/II trial. Clin Cancer Res 26(14):3565-3577, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32299815.
Ferguson S, Levine N, Suki D, Tsung A, Lang FF, Sawaya R, Weinberg JS, McCutcheon IE. The surgical treatment of tumors of the fourth ventricle: a single-institution experience. J Neurosurgery 128(2):339-351, 2018.
Mahajan A, Ahmed S, McAleer MF, Weinberg JS, Li J, Brown P, Settle S, Prabhu SS, Lang FF, Levine N, McGovern S, Sulman E, McCutcheon IE, Azeem S, Cahill D, Tatsui C, Heimberger AB, Ferguson S, Ghia A, Demonte F, Raza S, Guha-Thakurta N, Yang J, Sawaya R, Hess KR, Rao G. Post-operative stereotactic radiosurgery versus observation for completely resected brain metastases: a single-centre, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol 18(8):1040-1048, 2017. PMID: 28687375.
Kromer C, Xu J, Ostrom QT, Gittleman H, Kruchko C, Sawaya R, Barnholtz-Sloan JS. Estimating the annual frequency of synchronous brain metastasis in the United States 2010-2013: a population-based study. J Neurooncol 134(1):55-64, 2017. PMID: 28567587.
Li YM, Suki D, Hess K, Sawaya R. The influence of maximum safe resection of glioblastoma on survival in 1229 patients: Can we do better than gross-total resection. J Neurosurg 124(4):977-88, 2016. PMID: 26495941.
Gabrusiewicz K, Rodriguez B, Wei J, Hashimoto Y, Healy LM, Maiti SN, Thomas G, Zhou S, Wang Q, Elakkad A, Liebelt BD, Yaghi NK, Ezhilarasan R, Huang N, Weinberg JS, Prabhu SS, Rao G, Sawaya R, Langford LA, Bruner JM, Fuller GN, Bar-Or A, Li W, Colen RR, Curran MA, Bhat KP, Antel JP, Cooper LJ, Sulman EP, Heimberger AB. Glioblastoma-infiltrated innate immune cells resemble M0 macrophage phenotype. JCI Insight 1(2):pii: e85841, 2016. PMID: 26973881.
Krivosheya D, Prabhu SS, Weinberg JS, Sawaya R. Technical principles in glioma surgery and preoperative considerations. J Neurooncol 130(2):243-252, 2016. PMID: 27317446.
Brown TJ, Brennan MC, Li M, Church EW, Brandmeir NJ, Rakszawski KL, Patel AS, Rizk EB, Suki D, Sawaya R, Glantz M. Association of the extent of resection with survival in glioblastoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Oncol 2(11):1460-1469, 2016. PMID: 27310651.
Lee HT, Xue J, Chou PC, Zhou A, Yang P, Conrad CA, Aldape KD, Priebe W, Patterson C, Sawaya R, Xie K, Huang S. Stat3 orchestrates interaction between endothelial and tumor cells and inhibition of Stat3 suppresses brain metastasis of breast cancer cells. Oncotarget 6(12):10016-29, 2015. PMID: 25881542.
Sathyan P, Zinn P, Marisetty A, Liu B, Kamal M, Singh S, Bady P, Lu L, Wani K, Veo B, Gumin J, Kassem D, Robinson F, Weng C, Baladandayuthapani V, Suki D, Colman H, Bhat K, Sulman E, Aldape K, Colen R, Verhaak R, Lu Z, Fuller G, Huang S, Lang FF, Sawaya R, Hegi M, Majumder S. Mir-21-Sox2 axis delineates glioblastoma subtypes with prognostic impact. J Neurosci 35(45):15097-15112, 2015.
Dziurzynski K, Wei J, Qiao W, Hatiboglu MA, Kong LY, Wu A, Wang Y, Cahill D, Levine N, Prabhu S, Rao G, Sawaya R, Heimberger AB. Glioma-associated cytomegalovirus mediates subversion of the monocyte lineage to a tumor propagating phenotype. Clin Cancer Res 17(14):4642-9, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21490182.
Hassaneen W, Levine NB, Suki D, Salaskar AL, de Moura Lima A, McCutcheon IE, Prabhu SS, Lang FF, DeMonte F, Rao G, Weinberg JS, Wildrick DM, Aldape KD, Sawaya R. Multiple craniotomies in the management of multifocal and multicentric glioblastoma. J Neurosurg 114(3):576-84, 2011. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20690813.
Sampson JH, Aldape KD, Archer GE, Coan A, Desjardins A, Friedman AH, Friedman HS, Gilbert MR, Herndon JE, McLendon RE, Mitchell DA, Reardon DA, Sawaya R, Schmittling R, Shi W, Vredenburgh JJ, Bigner DD, Heimberger AB. Greater chemotherapy-induced lymphopenia enhances tumor-specific immune responses that eliminate EGFRvIII-expressing tumor cells in patients with glioblastoma. Neuro Oncol 13(3):324-33, 2011. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 21149254.
Patel AJ, Rao VY, Fox BD, Suki D, Wildrick DM, Sawaya R, Demonte F. Radiation-induced osteosarcomas of the calvarium and skull base. Cancer 117(10):2120-6, 2011. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 21523724.
Kong LY, Wu AS, Doucette T, Wei J, Priebe W, Fuller GN, Qiao W, Sawaya R, Rao G, Heimberger AB. Intratumoral mediated immunosuppression is prognostic in genetically engineered murine models of glioma and correlates to immunotherapeutic responses. Clin Cancer Res 16(23):5722-5733, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20921210.
Wu A, Wei J, Kong LY, Wang Y, Priebe W, Qiao W, Sawaya R, Heimberger AB. Glioma cancer stem cells induce immunosuppressive macrophages/microglia. Neuro Oncol 12(11):1113-25, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20667896.
McPherson CM, Suki D, Feiz-Erfan I, Mahajan A, Chang E, Sawaya R, Lang FF. Adjuvant whole-brain radiation therapy after surgical resection of single brain metastases. Neuro Oncol 12(7):711-9, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20156806.
Kumar AJ, Leeds NE, Kumar VA, Fuller GN, Lang FF, Milas Z, Weinberg JS, Ater JL, Sawaya R. Magnetic resonance imaging features of pilocytic astrocytoma of the brain mimicking high-grade gliomas. J Comput Assist Tomogr 34(4):601-611, 2010. PMID: 20657231.
Hassaneen W, Suki D, Salaskar AL, Levine NB, DeMonte F, Lang FF, McCutcheon IE, Dorai Z, Feiz-Erfan I, Wildrick DM, Sawaya R. Immediate morbidity and mortality associated with transcallosal resection of tumors of the third ventricle. J Clin Neurosci 17(7):830-836, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20478709.
Nayar VV, DeMonte F, Yoshor D, Blacklock JB, Sawaya R. Surgical approaches to meningiomas of the lateral ventricles. Clin Neurol Neurosurg 112(5):400-5, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20197209.
Ji P, Smith SM, Wang Y, Jiang R, Song SW, Li B, Sawaya R, Bruner JM, Kuang J, Yu H, Fuller GN, Zhang W. Inhibition of gliomagenesis and attenuation of mitotic transition by MIIP. Oncogene 29(24):3501-3508, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20418911.
Hassaneen W, Suki D, Salaskar AL, Wildrick DM, Lang FF, Fuller GN, Sawaya R. Surgical management of lateral-ventricle metastases: report of 29 cases in a single-institution experience. J Neurosurg 112(5):1046-1055, 2010. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19663549.
Wei J, Barr J, Kong LY, Wang Y, Wu A, Sharma AK, Gumin J, Henry V, Colman H, Priebe W, Sawaya R, Lang FF, Heimberger AB. Glioblastoma cancer-initiating cells inhibit T-cell proliferation and effector responses by the signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 pathway. Mol Cancer Ther 9(1):67-78, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20053772.
Hatiboglu MA, Weinberg JS, Suki D, Tummala S, Rao G, Sawaya R, Prabhu SS. Utilization of intraoperative motor mapping in glioma surgery with high-field intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg 88(6):345-352, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20733348.
Williams BJ, Suki D, Fox BD, Pelloski CE, Maldaun MV, Sawaya RE, Lang FF, Rao G. Stereotactic radiosurgery for metastatic brain tumors: a comprehensive review of complications. J Neurosurg 111(3):439-48, 2009. PMID: 19301968.
Oh Y, Taylor S, Bekele BN, Debnam JM, Allen PK, Suki D, Sawaya R, Komaki R, Stewart DJ, Karp DD. Number of metastatic sites is a strong predictor of survival in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer with or without brain metastases. Cancer 115(13):2930-8, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19441110.
Hatiboglu MA, Prabhu S, Weinberg J, Shah K, Sawaya R. Surgical treatment of supplementary motor area lesions. Turk Neurosurg 19(3):306-307, 2009. PMID: 19621301.
Hatiboglu MA, Weinberg JS, Suki D, Rao G, Prabhu SS, Shah K, Jackson E, Sawaya R. Impact of intraoperative high-field magnetic resonance imaging guidance on glioma surgery: a prospective volumetric analysis. Neurosurgery 64(6):1073-1081, 2009. PMID: 19487886.
Amano T, Nakamizo A, Mishra SK, Gumin J, Shinojima N, Sawaya R, Lang FF. Simultaneous phosphorylation of p53 at serine 15 and 20 induces apoptosis in human glioma cells by increasing expression of pro-apoptotic genes. J Neurooncol 92(3):357-371, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19357962.
Al-Shamy G, Sawaya R. Management of brain metastases: the indispensable role of surgery. J Neurooncol 92(3):275-282, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19357955.
Kim SS, McCutcheon IE, Suki D, Weinberg JS, Sawaya R, Lang FF, Ferson D, Heimberger AB, DeMonte F, Prabhu SS. Awake craniotomy for brain tumors near eloquent cortex: correlation of intraoperative cortical mapping with neurological outcomes in 309 consecutive patients. Neurosurgery 64(5):836-845, 2009. PMID: 19404147.
Suki D, Hatiboglu MA, Patel AJ, Weinberg JS, Groves MD, Mahajan A, Sawaya R. Comparative risk of leptomeningeal dissemination of cancer after surgery or stereotactic radiosurgery for a single supratentorial solid tumor metastasis. Neurosurgery 64(4):664-674, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19197219.
Hassaneen W, Hatiboglu MA, Chowdhury S, Sawaya R. Asymptomatic cerebellopontine angle and lateral ventricle metastases from renal cell carcinoma: case report and literature review. J Neurooncol 91(1):101-106, 2009. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18726184.
Huang FJ, Steeg PS, Price JE, Chiu WT, Chou PC, Xie K, Sawaya R, Huang S. Molecular basis for the critical role of suppressor of cytokine signaling-1 in melanoma brain metastasis. Cancer Res 68(23):9634-9642, 2008. PMID: 19047140.
Abou-Ghazal M, Yang DS, Qiao W, Reina-Ortiz C, Wei J, Kong LY, Fuller GN, Hiraoka N, Priebe W, Sawaya R, Heimberger AB. The incidence, correlation with tumor-infiltrating inflammation, and prognosis of phosphorylated STAT3 expression in human gliomas. Clin Cancer Res 14(24):8228-8235, 2008. PMID: 19088040.
Zhang Y, Zhang N, Dai B, Liu M, Sawaya R, Xie K, Huang S. FoxM1B transcriptionally regulates vascular endothelial growth factor expression and promotes the angiogenesis and growth of glioma cells. Cancer Res 68(21):8733-8742, 2008. PMID: 18974115.
Yokoyama T, Iwado E, Kondo Y, Aoki H, Hayashi Y, Georgescu MM, Sawaya R, Hess KR, Mills GB, Kawamura H, Hashimoto Y, Urata Y, Fujiwara T, Kondo S. Autophagy-inducing agents augment the antitumor effect of telerase-selve oncolytic adenovirus OBP-405 on glioblastoma cells. Gene Ther 15(17):1233-9, 2008. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18580968.
Xie TX, Aldape KD, Gong W, Kanzawa T, Suki D, Kondo S, Lang F, Ali-Osman F, Sawaya R, Huang S. Aberrant NF-kappaB activity is critical in focal necrosis formation of human glioblastoma by regulation of the expression of tissue factor. Int J Oncol 33(1):5-15, 2008. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18575745.
Nakamizo A, Amano T, Zhang W, Zhang XQ, Ramdas L, Liu TJ, Bekele BN, Shono T, Sasaki T, Benedict WF, Sawaya R, Lang FF. Phosphorylation of Thr18 and Ser20 of p53 in Ad-p53 induced apoptosis. Neuro Oncol 10(3):275-291, 2008. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18443131.
Aoki H, Kondo Y, Aldape K, Yamamoto A, Iwado E, Yokoyama T, Hollingsworth EF, Kobayashi R, Hess K, Shinojima N, Shingu T, Tamada Y, Zhang L, Conrad C, Bogler O, Mills G, Sawaya R, Kondo S. Monitoring autophagy in glioblastoma with antibody against isoform B of human microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3. Autophagy 4(4):467-75, 2008. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18259115.
Chumbalkar V, Sawaya R, Bogler O. Proteomics: the new frontier also for brain tumor research. Curr Probl Cancer 32(3):143-54, 2008. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18501776.
Suki D, Abouassi H, Patel AJ, Sawaya R, Weinberg JS, Groves MD. Comparative risk of leptomeningeal disease after resection or stereotactic radiosurgery for solid tumor metastasis to the posterior fossa. J Neurosurg 108(2):248-257, 2008. PMID: 18240919.
Heimberger AB, Sun W, Hussain SF, Dey M, Crutcher L, Aldape K, Gilbert M, Hassenbusch SJ, Sawaya R, Schmittling B, Archer GE, Mitchell DA, Bigner DD, Sampson JH. Immunological responses in a patient with glioblastoma multiforme treated with sequential courses of temozolomide and immunotherapy: Case study. Neuro Oncol 10(1):98-103, 2008. e-Pub 2007. PMID: 18079360.
Maldaun MV, Aguiar PH, Lang F, Suki D, Wildrick D, Sawaya R. Radiosurgery in the treatment of brain metastases: critical review regarding complications. Neurosurg Rev 31(1):1-8; discussion 8-9, 2008. e-Pub 2007. PMID: 17957397.

Invited Articles

Winer E, Gralow J, Diller L, Karlan B, Loehrer P, Pierce L, Demetri G, Ganz P, Kramer B, Kris M, Markman M, Mayer R, Pfister D, Raghavan D, Ramsey S, Reaman G, Sandler H, Sawaya R, Schuchter L, Sweetenham J, Vahdat L, Schilsky RL, American Society of Clinical Oncology. Clinical cancer advances 2008: major research advances in cancer treatment, prevention, and screening--a report from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. J Clin Oncol 27(5):812-826, 2009. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 19103723.
Bogler O, Sawaya R. Biomarkers and cancer stem cells in primary brain tumors. Curr Probl Cancer 32(3):95-6, 2008. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18501773.
Sawaya R. Brain Metastases and the Need for a Multispecialist Approach. Oncology 21:482, 2007.

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