Nestor Esnaola, MD, MPH, MBA, FACS

Dr. Esnaola is a graduate of Rice University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in general surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/ Harvard Medical School and subsequently completed clinical/research fellowships in surgical oncology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. He joined Fox Chase Cancer Center-Temple Health in 2012, where he serves as Professor of Surgery and participates in the multidisciplinary care of patients with gastrointestinal cancers, hepatico-pancreatico-biliary malignancies, and soft tissue sarcomas. As Associate Director for Cancer Health Disparities and Community Engagement at Fox Chase, he directs community outreach and is tasked with ensuring that the clinical/research enterprise at the Center addresses the cancer burden and needs of its catchment area. Dr. Esnaola completed a Master in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health; his current research focuses on racial/ethnic disparities in cancer care/outcomes, clinical impact/cost-effectiveness of alternative cancer staging/treatment strategies, and cancer care delivery/process of care trials. Dr. Esnaola completed a Master in Business Administration at the University of Tennessee and has a strong interest in perioperative processes of care and surgical quality and safety. As Leader of the Best Practices Initiative for the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP), he spearheaded the development of several evidence-based, expert panel-rated Best Practice Guidelines and QI Primers, as well as the ACS NSQIP Pathway to Improvement. His MT-DIRC project will be a hybrid cancer care delivery trial which will evaluate implementation and test effectiveness of a centralized/off-site, telephone-based, protocol-driven, patient navigation intervention deployed throughout the first course of treatment to enhance adherence to evidence-based care (i.e., receipt of locoregional therapy, hormonal therapy, and chemotherapy) in African American women with nonmetastatic invasive breast cancer.