Leading Colorectal Cancer Expert Joins Colorectal Faculty

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James Church, MD, a pioneer in hereditary colon cancer care, brings decades of experience to Columbia’s team.

Columbia University’s Department of Surgery is proud to welcome James Church, MD to its faculty. Dr. Church is a world-renowned surgeon joining the Division of Colorectal Surgery, where he will be seeing patients at the main campus in Washington Heights. For any inquiries or referrals, please feel free to contact his office at (212) 342-1155.

Born and raised in New Zealand, Dr. Church did his medical school, postgraduate research and general surgical training in Auckland before training in colorectal surgery at the Cleveland Clinic and eventually joining the faculty there. Over the 34 years that followed, he played an instrumental role in developing what was widely considered the finest Department of Colorectal Surgery in the world.

With a special interest in familial polyposis and colorectal cancer, he has been co-Investigator of the Collaborative Colorectal Cancer Family Registry, funded by a research grant from the National Cancer Institute. In addition, he has served as the Chairman of the Leeds Castle Polyposis Group and the International Collaborative Group on Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colorectal Cancer and President of the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Colorectal Cancer. These international societies are dedicated to the care of patients with inherited colorectal cancer and research into their disease. He is looking forward to bringing his skills, passion and expertise in inherited cancers and polyposis to patients of the Division of Colorectal Surgery at Columbia.

Dr. Church’s other areas of interests include colonoscopy, functional colorectal and anal problems including constipation and incontinence, anorectal disorders such as hemorrhoids and fistulae, perianal and perineal infections and inflammatory bowel disease. As head of the Section of Endoscopy at Cleveland Clinic, he helped develop several advances in the art of colonoscopy for the benefit of patients. He is also deeply commitment to education and is currently a Fellow of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, American College of Surgeons, Costa Rican Society of Surgery, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, American College of Gastroenterology, American Surgical Association and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow.

The Department is proud to add Dr. Church to an already outstanding roster of colorectal surgeons. His four decades of experience and surgical excellence will be an incredible asset as he collaborates with physicians, surgeons and allied professionals throughout the institution and provides training, education and mentorship within the Division.


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