Wake Forest Baptist Names New Cancer Services Executive

May 25, 2016

Noted surgeon, educator and executive Edgar D. “Ed” Staren, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., has been appointed vice president for cancer services at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, effective June 6.

Staren also will serve as deputy director for clinical affairs of Wake Forest Baptist’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and executive director of the Medical Center’s cancer service line.

As part of the senior management teams of both the Medical Center and the Comprehensive Cancer Center, he will be responsible for the strategies, facilities, operations and quality of all cancer-related patient-care services across all Wake Forest Baptist campuses and outreach sites.

“Dr. Staren brings valuable executive experience in the rapidly expanding field of precision medicine and distinctive expertise in surgical oncology and academic medicine,” said Kevin High, M.D., Wake Forest Baptist’s executive vice president for health system affairs. “We look forward to his leadership to build on our strengths for the best possible experiences and outcomes for our cancer patients.”

Staren most recently served as chief executive officer of Ashion PMed Management and as president of its Ashion Advanced Individual Medicine subsidiary, both outgrowths of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix. Ashion provides clinical genomics testing facilities and various support services that are focused on accelerating the adoption and delivery of precision medicine in mainstream oncology.

Staren earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Arizona, his medical degree at Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine, his Ph.D. in microbiology and  immunology from Rush University and his M.B.A. from Benedictine University.

He received his general surgery training at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and completed a surgical oncology fellowship at Rush and Cook County Hospitals.

Staren was a professor, assistant dean and associate dean at Rush Medical College and an attending surgeon at Rush Medical Center and Cook County Hospitals.

He then served as professor and medical director of the Medical College of Ohio’s Cancer Institute and as surgery chair and surgery clinical service chief of its hospitals.

Staren is a member of numerous academic organizations and is a past president of the American Society of Breast Surgeons, the Rush Surgical Society and the Toledo Surgical Society. He is member of the AOA Medical Honor Society and has been regularly listed in “Best Doctor’s in America” and “America’s Top Doctors for Cancer”. He has published nearly 300 scientific works, including manuscripts, abstracts, book chapters and books.

Media Relations

Mac Ingraham: mingraha@wakehealth.edu, 336-716-3487

Joe McCloskey: jmcclosk@wakehealth.edu, 336-716-1273