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I am a chest surgeon who specializes primarily in the treatment of three groups of patients: those with lung cancer, those with cancers that have spread to the lung from other sites, and those with tumors that arise from structures in the chest other than the lung, such as the thymus gland or the chest wall.
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My clinical work outside of the operating room is focused on administering Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Surgical Advanced Care Unit, which provides a heightened level of postoperative monitoring and care for patients who either have undergone extensive operations, or who present with significant debilities (for example, advanced age or preexisting lung disease) prior to surgery.
My research interests involve investigating whether adult cancers arise from the stem cells that all adults have in their bodies, and, if so, what the implications are for understanding the behavior and treatment of cancer.
My Role at MSK
A thoracic (thor-A-sik) surgeon is a doctor with special training in surgery on the chest, lungs, trachea (windpipe), and thymus.
Areas of Expertise
Conditions I Treat
Lung cancer
Lung metastases
Mediastinal tumors
Mesothelioma
Thymoma
My Specialties
Upper Endoscopy
Tracheobronchial stents
Esophageal stents
Education & Honors
Education
MD, Columbia University
Residencies
Surgery - Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center
Awards and Honors
Castle Connolly: America’s Top Doctor (2024)
Top Doctors New York Metro Area, Castle Connolly (2023)
Castle Connolly: America's Top Doctors (2023)
Fellowships
Surgery - Mayo Clinic
Surgery - Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center
Board Certifications
Thoracic Surgery
Surgical Critical Care
General Surgery
Insurance Information
Understanding your insurance options is an important part of managing your cancer care. We have relationships with many common healthcare providers and plans.
Aetna
In Network Coverage Type HMO, EPO PPO, POS, Transplant
Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.
Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.
You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.
Selected Book Chapters “Resection of colorectal metastases to the lung.” Downey RJ. In: Colorectal Cancer: Multimodality Management. Saltz L, ed. Clifton, NJ: Humana Press; 2002.
“Physiology of bed rest.” Downey RJ. In: The Physiological Basis of Rehabilitation Medicine. 2nd ed. Downey JA, Myers SJ, Gonzalez EG, Lieberman JS, eds. Boston: Butterworth-Heineman; 1994: 448-454.
“Surgical problems in the critically ill oncologic patient.” Downey RJ, Espat J, Hsu FI. In: Textbook of Critical Care Medicine. 4th ed. Grenvik A, Ayres SM, Holbrook PR, Shoemaker WC, eds. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 2000.
“Perioperative care of the patient undergoing lung resection.” Downey RJ. Pulmonary Diseases and Disorders. Fishman AP, Elias JA, Fishman J, Grippi MA, Kaiser LR, Senior RM, eds. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1998.
“Physiology changes associated with bed rest and major injury.” Downey RJ, Weissman C. In: Downey and Darling’s Physiology Basis of Rehabilitation Medicine. 3rd ed. Gonzalez EG, Myers SJ, Edelstein JE, Lieberman JS, Downey JA, eds. Boston: Buttersworth-Heinemann; 2001.
“Follow-up after lung cancer resection.” Downey RJ. American Cancer Society Atlas of Clinical Oncology: Lung Cancer. Ginsberg RJ. Hamilton, Ontario: BC Decker; 2002.
“Non-small cell lung cancer—stage III disease.” Downey RJ. In: Current Therapy in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Yang SC and Cameron DE, eds. Philadelphia: Mosby; 2004.
Publications on PubMed
Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Downey’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.
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Disclosures
Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.
MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.
Robert J. Downey discloses the following relationships and financial interests:
No disclosures meeting criteria for time period
If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.
The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.
This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.
Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].
