Timothy L Frankel, MD
Maud T Lane Professor of Surgical Oncology
Associate Professor of Surgery
Co-Director of Pancreas Cancer Initiatives
Rogel Cancer Center
[email protected]

Available to mentor

Timothy L Frankel, MD
Associate Professor
  • About
  • Qualifications
  • Center Memberships
  • Research Overview
  • Recent Publications
  • About

    Dr. Timothy L. Frankel is a faculty member within the Section of General Surgery at the University of Michigan. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Connecticut College in 2000 with a B.A. in Physics and was elected into Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his medical degree from George Washington University in 2004 and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He completed a residency in General Surgery at the University of Michigan in 2011 during which time he spent two years at the National Cancer Institute studying tumor immunology and genetic engineering. He developed techniques to genetically modify peripheral blood lymphocytes allowing them to more effectively target tumors for destruction. His work resulted in multiple publications and awards including the James Crudup Surgical Research Award. After completion of residency, he completed a two-year surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

    Clinical Interests
    • His clinical interests are in the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies including cancers of the liver, pancreas and stomach. He has published multiple clinical papers on techniques in liver resection for colorectal metastases. He is the surgical lead for the liver tumor program at the Ann Arbor VA and has doubled the volume of liver surgery since joining. He is also establishing multidisciplinary cancer clinics to accelerate work-up and treatment of veterans with cancer. He serves as the Chair of the Commission on Cancer certified Cancer Program and was recently named Director of Comprehensive Cancer Care at the Ann Arbor VA. This role is tasked with monitoring the quality of cancer care provided at the institution and shaping policy related to the treatment of cancer patients. He has formed a cancer care navigation program staffed with providers who facilitate care of patients with newly diagnosed or suspicious tumors guiding them through evaluation and treatment.

    Qualifications
    • Fellow
      Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Surgery, 2013
    • Resident
      University of Michigan Medical School, Surgery, 2011
    • Research Fellow, Surgical Oncology
      National Cancer Institute, Surgery, 2009
    Center Memberships
    • Center Member
      Rogel Cancer Center
    Research Overview

    • Inflammation induced pancreatic cancer
    • Understanding spatial relationships of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment
    • Understanding the role of adipose derived progenitor cells in promoting pancreatic cancer formation in diabetics

    Recent Publications See All Publications
    • Journal Article
      Assessing the Tumor Immune Landscape Across Multiple Spatial Scales to Differentiate Immunotherapy Response in Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
      Tsang AP, Krishnan SN, Eliason JN, McGue JJ, Qin A, Frankel TL, Rao A. Lab Invest, 2024 Oct 9; 104 (11): 102148 DOI:10.1016/j.labinv.2024.102148
      PMID: 39389312
    • Journal Article
      Proximogram-A multi-omics network-based framework to capture tissue heterogeneity integrating single-cell omics and spatial profiling.
      Krishnan SN, Ji S, Elhossiny AM, Rao A, Frankel TL, Rao A. Comput Biol Med, 2024 Sep 9; 182: 109082 DOI:10.1016/j.compbiomed.2024.109082
      PMID: 39255657
    • Journal Article
      Oncogenic KRAS-Dependent Stromal Interleukin-33 Directs the Pancreatic Microenvironment to Promote Tumor Growth.
      Donahue KL, Watkoske HR, Kadiyala P, Du W, Brown K, Scales MK, Elhossiny AM, Espinoza CE, Lasse Opsahl EL, Griffith BD, Wen Y, Sun L, Velez-Delgado A, Renollet NM, Morales J, Nedzesky NM, Baliira RK, Menjivar RE, Medina-Cabrera PI, Rao A, Allen B, Shi J, Frankel TL, Carpenter ES, Bednar F, Zhang Y, Pasca di Magliano M. Cancer Discov, 2024 Oct 4; 14 (10): 1964 - 1989. DOI:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-24-0100
      PMID: 38958646
    • Journal Article
      Characterization of undifferentiated carcinomas of the pancreas with and without osteoclast-like giant cells.
      Mills JN, Gunchick V, Mcgue J, Qin Z, Kumar-Sinha C, Bednar F, Brown N, Shi J, Udager AM, Frankel T, Zalupski MM, Sahai V. JNCI Cancer Spectr, 2024 Oct 3; DOI:10.1093/jncics/pkae097
      PMID: 39363498
    • Journal Article
      Development of a Multiplex Immunofluorescence Assay for Tumor Microenvironment Studies of Human and Murine Merkel Cell Carcinoma.
      Sun L, Verhaegen ME, McGue J, Olivei AC, Dlugosz AA, Frankel TL, Harms PW. Lab Invest, 2024 Oct; 104 (10): 102128 DOI:10.1016/j.labinv.2024.102128
      PMID: 39182611
    • Journal Article
      Metabolic landscape of the healthy pancreas and pancreatic tumor microenvironment.
      Bonilla ME, Radyk MD, Perricone MD, Elhossiny AM, Harold AC, Medina-Cabrera PI, Kadiyala P, Shi J, Frankel TL, Carpenter ES, Green MD, Mitrea C, Lyssiotis CA, Pasca di Magliano M. JCI Insight, 2024 Aug 13; 9 (18): DOI:10.1172/jci.insight.180114
      PMID: 39315547
    • Journal Article
      SLC4A11 mediates ammonia import and promotes cancer stemness in hepatocellular carcinoma.
      Elaimy AL, El-Derany MO, James J, Wang Z, Pearson AN, Holcomb EA, Huber AK, Gijón MA, Bell HN, Sanghvi VR, Frankel TL, Su GL, Tapper EB, Tai AW, Ramnath N, Centonze CP, Dobrosotskaya I, Moeller JA, Bryant AK, Elliott DA, Choi E, Evans JR, Cuneo KC, FitzGerald TJ, Wahl DR, Morgan MA, Chang DT, Wicha MS, Lawrence TS, Shah YM, Green MD. JCI Insight, 2024 Sep 17; DOI:10.1172/jci.insight.184826
      PMID: 39287988
    • Journal Article
      Abstract A040: Multiplex fluorescent immunohistochemistry reveals immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in COMPASS-like complex gene mutated pancreatic cancer
      Zhang S, Daniels E, McGue J, Kim HS, Thomas D, Frankel T, Shi J. Cancer Research, 2024 Sep 15; 84 (17_Supplement_2): a040 - a040. DOI:10.1158/1538-7445.pancreatic24-a040
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