Our Faculty

Daniel J. Boffa, MD, is a Professor of Thoracic Surgery at Yale School of Medicine. He earned his medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine with honors and his MBA from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management at Brandeis and is a Board Certified Thoracic Surgeon. He has received numerous awards and recognitions for clinical skills, research and education, including the Dr. Charles H. Bryan Clinical Excellence Award from the Cleveland Clinic, the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Research Award and the CALGB young investigator award, and the Edward H. Storer education award from Yale and the Hassan A. Naama Award education award from Cornell. His work has been published in top Journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, the JAMA Network and Nature, as well as mainstream media including the New York Times and the LA Times. He has been interviewed by numerous news outlets including Nature Medicine, Bloomberg News, NBC and National Geographic. Learn more about Dr. Boffa>> Dr. Boffa specializes in esophageal and lung cancer, achalasia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hiatal hernia, esophageal diverticulum, and hyperhidrosis. As a highly skilled surgeon, Dr. Boffa performs the majority of his surgeries with minimally invasive procedures. Committed to increasing the survival rate of cancer patients. Dr. Boffa has focused his clinical research on identifying the most effective way of treating cancer patients, particularly those with stage IV cancer, as well as quality of care across different hospital networks. He is the chair of the Quality Assurance and Data committee for the Commission on Cancer, which is one of the largest cancer organizations in the world.

Frank Detterbeck, MD, FACS, FCCP is a Professor of Surgery and Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Yale University and Associate Director of the Yale Cancer Center. He earned a BS in Cell Biology at the University of Michigan, and an MD degree from Northwestern University. After completing general surgery training at the Virginia Mason Clinic in Seattle, he pursued a cardiothoracic fellowship and a fellowship in thoracic transplantation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He rose to the rank of professor of surgery at the University of North Carolina during a long tenure there before being recruited to Yale University in 2005. The major focus of his career has been on thoracic oncology. In particular, he has promoted evidence-based care and multidisciplinary teamwork. He has written extensively on these and other topics, with over 150 papers and book chapters. He holds leadership positions in many of the major professional societies associated with thoracic surgery and has given invited lectures on a wide variety of topics at many institutions and international meetings. Watch a video with Dr. Frank Detterbeck >> He specializes in the surgical treatment of lung cancer, lung metastases, esophageal cancer, thymoma, mediastinal tumors, chest wall tumors, Pancoast tumors, mesothelioma, and sarcoma. The majority of his thoracic/chest surgeries are performed using minimally invasive techniques. His clinical research includes cancer biology, cancer imaging techniques, prognostic markers of cancers, multimodality (multiple therapies for) treatment of cancer, and evidence-based medicine.

Justin D. Blasberg, MD is an Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of Robotic Thoracic Surgery at the Yale School of Medicine. He earned his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and completed his cardiothoracic training at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr Blasberg is a Board Certified General Surgeon (ACS) and a Board Certified Thoracic Surgeon (ABTS). Dr. Blasberg's practice includes minimally invasive and open management for diseases of the esophagus, lung, mediastinum, chest wall, thoracic outlet, and diaphragm. He has a particular interest in benign and malignant diseases of the trachea, including idiopathic laryngotracheal stenosis and post-intubation stenosis, as well as complex lung resections requiring bronchoplasty. He also performs first rib resection and anterior scalenectomy for all varieties of thoracic outlet syndrome, sympathectomy for hyperhidrosis, and minimally invasive chest wall reconstructions for pectus deformities. As a skilled surgeon, Dr. Blasberg performs the majority of his surgeries, when possible, in a minimally invasive fashion. Dr. Blasberg has a vision and a passion for Medicine, Surgery, and improving the care of the patient. He best embodies the young academic surgeon possessing an inquisitive mind, perseverant work ethic, and an engaging personality. Dr. Blasberg leads a clinical research program on novel imaging techniques for the detection of lung cancer and surgical outcomes research in thoracic surgery.

Andrew Dhanasopon, MD is an Assistant Professor of Surgery (Thoracic Surgery) at Yale School of Medicine.  He earned his undergraduate degree in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego and his medical degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.  He completed his General Surgery residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and his Thoracic Surgery fellowship at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 2017.  He was recruited to stay as faculty here since 2017.  Watch a video with Dr. Andrew Dhanasopon >>Dr. Dhanasopon’s practice includes minimally invasive approaches (Robotic daVinci and VATS) and traditional open  approaches to surgical management of a variety of thoracic diseases.  He has particular interests in lung cancer, esophageal cancer, hiatal hernias, mediastinal tumors, chest wall tumors, and acquired and congenital chest wall deformities such as rib fractures and adult pectus excavatum.  He practices at the main New Haven campus and also at the Veterans' Administration (VA) hospital in West Haven as Site Director of Thoracic Surgery.  Dr. Dhanasopon has a passion for improving the care of cancer patients through quality improvement clinical research in thoracic surgery and has authored many papers and presented his published work at major society meetings including STS and AATS.  As Associate Program Director of the Yale Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency and Fellowship, he is instrumental in the development of surgical trainees.

Vincent Mase, Jr., MD, FACS, completed his fellowship in Thoracic Surgery in 2016 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and uses the latest technologies for the surgical treatment of lung cancer, chest wall deformities and other problems that affect the chest. He is skilled in performing minimally invasive thoracic surgery for most patients.  He treats patients at the Yale New Haven campus, the Bridgeport Hospital campus, and the Park Avenue Medical Center Campus in Trumbull.“For many of my patients this is their first experience with a life-threatening illness as well as their first experience navigating through a hospital system,” Dr. Mase says. It is important to take the time to make sure patients and their family understand both the surgical and non-surgical options.   Dr. Mase thinks of all his patients as success stories. He says one of the best parts of his work is “seeing them outside of the office—maybe at the mall—and they are doing well, getting back to their lives.”Dr. Mase is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and has close to 20 years service time; both active duty and reserves.  His duty assignments include Schweinfurt, Germany; Seoul, South Korea, and a combat tour in Tikrit, Iraq. His military awards include a Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, and Combat Medical Badge.   “I feel fortunate to have had a robust military experience and am grateful for the opportunities the military has given me to grow professionally and personally; it is always a privilege to care for Soldiers, families, and veterans”, Dr. Mase stated.

Dr. Gavitt Woodard has a degree in neurobiology and health care policy from Harvard University and received her medical degree from Stanford School of Medicine. She completed her General Surgery Residency and Thoracic Surgery Fellowship at University of California San Francisco. During her training she was awarded an American College of Surgeons resident research award and spent two years as a thoracic oncology research fellow. In 2020 she joined the thoracic surgery faculty at Yale School of Medicine where she specializes in the care of patients with lung cancer. Her research interests are in biomarkers of early-stage non-small cell lung cancer, immune cell infiltration in the tumor immune microenvironment, immune cell dysfunction, and semi-solid lung adenocarcinoma. Her laboratory work is mentored by Dr. Lieping Chen who is credited with the discovery of PD-L1. Her research at Yale has been funded by the Yale SPORE in Lung Cancer, the American Cancer Society, IASLC Young Investigator Award, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons AstraZeneca Lung Cancer Research Award, and the Braude Foundation.