Biography

Robert C. G. Martin, II, M.D. PhD, is The Sam and Lolita Weakley Endowed Chair in Surgical Oncology, The Director of the Division of Surgical Oncology, faculty member of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, and a Professor in the Department of Surgery. He was appointed to the University of Louisville in 2002 as an Assistant Professor and achieved Professor of Surgery in 2011. Dr. Martin received his M.D. from the University of Louisville School of Medicine (1995) and his surgical oncology training and hepato-pancreatico-biliary training from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (2002), and his PhD from the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology (2008) at the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

Dr Martin has mentored over 30 medical students and masters’ students through both the summer research scholar program as well as medical students outside of that program who have shown a significant interest in surgical and oncology research. He is an active participant in a number of teaching activities including ongoing lectures to the third year medical students, journal clubs for both the senior honor medical students as well as surgical oncology fellows and an active participant of the medical students’ education through their rotations.

He has completed over 15 prospective clinical trials and principle investigator of 1 Humanitarin Device Exemption (HDE), 2 Investigation New Drugs (IND), and 3 Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) trials. He has completed over 5 NIH funded grants and continue to maintain an active basic science laboratory.

Dr. Martin’s clinical interests are focused on the multi-disciplinary care and surgical management of patients with upper GI malignancies, including esophageal, gastric, duodenal, liver, biliary, and pancreatic cancers.

His Clinical Research interests are focused in:

Hepatocellular Cancer, Metastatic Colorectal Cancer, Cholangiocarcinoma (Bile Duct Cancer), Pancreatic Cancer, Gastric Cancer, and Esophageal Cancer with specific trials in all of these disease.

His research focus is surgical quality of care, metastatic colon cancer management and genetic predispositions to upper GI malignancies.
Dr. Martin’s basic science interest focuses on the translational research - defined as animal model evaluation in esophageal, hepatocellular, and pancreatic cancers – for naturally occurring chemoprevention therapeutics, nanoparticle and gold particle targeted therapy, as well as optimal device evaluation.
Dr. Martin hopes to translate his findings to improve the overall care of these patients.
He has written more than 400 first or senior author peer review manuscripts and is currently the Principal Investigator of multiple clinical trials evaluating new technology in the Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary patient.

Dr. Martin's Studies

A Commitment to Diversity

To me, diversity means a variety of backgrounds, people and perspectives. In my experience, it can bring out better solutions that reach a wider audience, and make the our University, Department, and Division an atmosphere that is more welcoming. Equity means making sure that everyone has equal opportunities, compensation and voice in decision-making, which I think is important in hiring and during everyday operations. When we can make internal processes more equitable and fair, the Division/Department can truly build up the talent it has and can attract a wider range of future hires. Inclusivity is when we implement these values and help make sure that our diverse workforce feels safe, valued and welcomed.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

I have been integral in hiring and increasing the diversity in my Division and Department of full time faculty (currently your Division is balanced)
I have been integral in our commitment to increasing representation for or the Surgical Oncology Fellowship over the last 10 years
I have maintained a commitment to intentional inclusion through my mentoring of Students, Residents, Fellows, and Faculty