New Breast Surgeon Joins the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Care Center at SBUMC
Dr. Christine Rizk Centers Research on Breast Conserving Surgery
STONY BROOK, N.Y., March 4, 2010 – Christine Rizk, M.D., has joined Stony Brook University Medical Center as Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, Breast Division. Dr. Rizk will practice at SBUMC’s Carol M. Baldwin Breast Care Center and will help to further develop the High-Risk Surveillance Program.
“Our High-Risk Surveillance Program is an important service to women in our community,” says Dr. Rizk. “Through genetic counseling, screening, and the most sophisticated technologies, we are able to identify who has a higher risk of developing breast cancer. Women are offered aggressive screening with the latest technology for breast cancer, as well preventative medication if they are candidates for the program.”
Dr. Rizk comes to SBUMC from Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Cancer Center. For the past three years she practiced at Roswell Park in the Division of Breast and Soft Tissue Surgery and served as a faculty member in the Department of Surgery at SUNY-Buffalo.
“The appointment of Dr. Rizk enhances our surgical and other clinical services at the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Center,” says Brian J. O’Hea, M.D., Medical Director of the Center. “She is a great addition to our team.”
In addition to her work in the High-Risk Surveillance Program, Dr. Rizk, board certified in General Surgery, will provide clinical services for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Her research interests include nipple-sparing mastectomy, oncoplastic surgery, and breast conserving surgery to improve breast cosmesis.
Specially trained in Nipple Sparing Mastectomy, Dr. Rizk says: “We routinely remove the nipple in the setting of mastectomy for cancer surgery. However, women who are preventatively having surgery are perfect candidates for nipple sparing mastectomy. This is important both in terms of leaving women with sensation as well as maximal cosmesis.”
Dr. Rizk earned her MD degree with honors from SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y. She completed her Residency in General Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, then completed a Fellowship in Breast Diseases from Brown University’s Women and Infants Hospital in Providence, R.I., after which she joined the breast care team at Roswell Park.
Dr. Rizk is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, a medical honor society, the American Medical Association, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Board of Surgery, and the American Society of Breast Disease. In 2008, while at SUNY Buffalo, she received the Excellence in Resident Teaching Award by the Department of General Surgery. She has also received other teaching awards and is the recipient of the Hubbard Humanitarian Award.
A native of Rochester, N.Y., Dr. Rizk lives in Mount Sinai, N.Y., with her husband, Dr. Sandeep Gupta.
