Dr. Murray F. Brennan

Dr. Murray F. Brennan

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Dr. Murray Brennan received a degree in mathematics from the University of New Zealand and a medical degree from the University of Otago in 1964. In 1970 he began advanced laboratory and clinical work at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Joslin Research Laboratories. After residency, Dr. Brennan joined the National Cancer Institute where he was head of the surgical metabolism section. In 1981 Dr. Brennan joined Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as Chief of Gastric and Mixed Tumor Service. From 1985 to 2006 he held the position of Chairman of the Department of Surgery and presently holds the Benno C. Schmidt Chair in Clinical Oncology.

Throughout his career, his clinical and research interests have focused on surgical oncology, endocrinology, metabolism, and nutrition. He has designed and conducted numerous clinical trials, which have produced major findings in the management of patients with soft tissue sarcomas and pancreatic cancer. Together with his colleagues, Dr. Brennan created the world's largest database of sarcoma patients. This database includes important data on some 7,000 patients treated at MSKCC since 1982.

Dr. Brennan is a member of innumerable academic surgical societies, national committees, and editorial boards. He has authored or co-authored more than 1000 scientific papers and book chapters focusing on surgical oncology, endocrinology, metabolism, and nutrition, and is the author of a book on soft tissue sarcoma.

Over the years, Dr. Brennan has served as Director of the American Board of Surgery, Chairman of the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, President of the Society of Surgical Oncology, and President of the American Surgical Association, the oldest and most prestigious surgical association in the United States, and Vice President of the American College of Surgeons. He has been awarded Honorary Fellowships in the Royal Colleges of Surgeons in Ireland, Edinburgh, England, Australasia, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and Canada. Dr. Brennan has received Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Edinburgh, Otago, Goteborg and University College of London, and honorary fellowships in the Asian, German, Brazilian, and European Surgical Societies, and the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1995, he was honored with membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 2000 he received the American College of Surgeons highest award, The Distinguished Service Award. In 1994 the Murray F. Brennan Chair in Surgery was endowed at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Brennan continues his vigorous activities as a clinician-educator-investigator.

Dr. Brennan joined the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative's Medical Advisory and Editorial Board in June 2006. He is featured in the Initiative's One-Minute Video Series and has published several enouraging ESUN articles. After years of active service, Dr. Brennan accepted an appointment as an Honorary Board Member in December 2011.