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Mehra Golshan, MD, MBA

Professor of Surgery (Oncology, Breast)
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Additional Titles

Executive Vice Chair, Surgery

Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Surgical Services, Smilow Cancer Hospital

Director of Medical Education, Surgery

About

Titles

Professor of Surgery (Oncology, Breast)

Executive Vice Chair, Surgery; Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Surgical Services, Smilow Cancer Hospital; Director of Medical Education, Surgery

Biography

Mehra Golshan, MD, MBA, is a cancer surgeon and a nationally and internationally recognized leader in breast cancer treatment and research. In addition to caring for patients, he serves as Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Surgical Services at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center.

Dr. Golshan also serves as the Executive Vice Chair of Operations in the Department of Surgery and Professor of Surgical Oncology at the Yale School of Medicine.

Dr. Golshan is a leader in the research with over 150 peer reviewed publications. He has led numerous Phase I, II and III clinical trials and translational science innovations impacting the treatment options and outcomes for women. He is an innovator in tailoring surgery and therapy for women with early stage breast cancer with funding support from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and National Institutes of Health. He is the principal investigator of several phase II trials aiming to reduce the need for second surgeries or re-excisions in women with breast cancer, one of which uses innovative image-guided operating room capabilities to capture and remove all residual tumor utilizing MRI and mass spectrometry which is used at Yale’s hybrid operating room.

Dr. Golshan prides himself on being an educator having trained and mentored over a hundred breast surgical fellows as well as international surgeons. He has lectured and taught surgeons, trainees and students nationally and internationally in the field of oncology and breast cancer treatment.

Dr. Golshan is a Board Member of the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), Chair of NAPBC Education Committee, Chair of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Interprofessional Education and Practice, and Commissioner Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs and Board member of the MIT Sloan Alumni Board.

Dr. Golshan completed his fellowship in breast surgical oncology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He earned his Medical Degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and an MBA at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management in Cambridge Massachusetts.

Prior to joining Yale, he spent 17 years in Boston at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute where he was the inaugural and incumbent Dr. Abdul Mohsen and Sultana Al-Tuwaijri Distinguished Chair in Surgical Oncology. He also served as the Director of the Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital and was an Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Golshan’s approach to breast cancer treatment is through a specialized team approach. For each new patient, Smilow brings together a team of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, reconstruction surgeons, pathologists, genetics, breast imagers, radiologists, program nurses, and a robust clinical research program. “I work closely with so many colleagues dedicated deeply to treating and curing breast cancer who inspire me to be a better physician, scientist, and person every day."

Appointments

  • Surgical Oncology

    Professor
    Primary

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

MBA
MIT (2019)
Fellow
Northwestern Memorial Hospital (2003)
Resident
Rush Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center (2002)
MD
Case Western Reserve University (1996)

Research

Overview

Medical Research Interests

Breast

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Mehra Golshan's published research.

Publications

2024

Clinical Trials

Current Trials

Clinical Care

Overview

Mehra Golshan, MD, MBA, is a cancer surgeon and a leader in breast cancer care on a national and international level. In addition to caring for Yale Medicine patients, he serves as Executive Vice Chair in the Department of Surgery and Professor of Surgery (Oncology), Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Surgical Services, and Clinical Director of Breast Program Yale Cancer Center, Smilow Cancer Hospital. He is responsible for coordinating and expanding cancer surgery services throughout Yale New Haven Health and the Smilow network.

Dr. Golshan’s research has included authoring 150 peer-reviewed articles. He is a recipient of funding from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. His clinical research focuses on minimizing the extent of surgery required for women with breast cancer through the use of neoadjuvant therapies, which are used to shrink a tumor before surgery; novel intra-operative MRI imaging, which is performed during surgery; and techniques for analyzing the margin (or rim of normal tissue) around a tumor. He has trained hundreds of surgeons who hold breast surgery faculty positions around the world.

Dr. Golshan, whose father is a retired head and neck surgeon and whose mother is a retired nurse, says he always wanted to be a cancer surgeon. He chose breast surgery partly because he was attracted by the team approach. For each new patient, Smilow brings together a team of medical oncologists, breast imagers, radiation oncologists, reconstruction surgeons, pathologists, genetics, program nurses, social workers, and a robust research program. “I work closely with so many colleagues that inspire me to be a better physician, scientist, and person,” he says.

As a surgeon, Dr. Golshan’s goals are to perform the least invasive form of surgery tailored for each patient, and to make sure every single patient is treated based on her or his personal, physical, and emotional needs.

Patients who seek treatment at Smilow should feel confident that they will receive the best possible care, Dr. Golshan says. “A cancer diagnosis can be intensely personal and treatment can be a difficult road for the patients and families. I am quite familiar, through personal experience, with the ups and downs of this journey, and I promise every patient that I and my colleagues are absolutely dedicated to providing the most excellent, compassionate, patient-focused care and treatment here at Yale.”

Clinical Specialties

Surgery; Breast Surgical Oncology

Fact Sheets

Board Certifications

  • Surgery General

    Certification Organization
    AB of Surgery
    Original Certification Date
    2003

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Contacts

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Locations

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    Are You a Patient? View this doctor's clinical profile on the Yale Medicine website for information about the services we offer and making an appointment.