Dr. Lorenzo Ferri

Research areas: Surgical Outcomes and Quality Surgical Education and Simulation Surgical Oncology Translation and Innovation Precision Health Areas of expertise: Dr. Ferri is an independent investigator with active basic science, translational and clinical research programs, all concentrated primarily on malignancies of the chest and foregut. Dr. Ferri has initiated numerous clinical programs and studies for esophageal cancer including: Novel combination chemotherapy regimens for neoadjuvant treatment of adenocarcinoma; Optimizing the palliation of metastatic disease; and extensive work into the investigation and optimization of outcomes after esophageal surgery. He is the first physician in Canada to introduce a novel technique of removing early cancers of the esophagus and stomach through endoscopic means (Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection), and has been invited throughout North America to speak on this method. This clinical work is closely coupled to both translational and fundamental research in the area of cancer-inflammation cross talk. Dr. Ferri is the recipient of numerous peer review grants (including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Canadian Cancer Society) for his work into the inflammatory basis of cancer metastasis. He has identified the important role of bacterial antigens and host neutrophils in propagating cancer dissemination, thus representing a new paradigm in the metastatic process. One of his most recent discoveries highlighting the novel finding implicating Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in the metastatic process (Journal of Clinical Investigation – August 2013) was widely reported in the global lay media including National Public Radio, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Radio Canada. Current research: My research focuses on improving outcomes in the treatment of gastric and esophageal cancers, as well as on the basic mechanisms involved in resistance to neoadjuvant/adjuvant therapy and the development of model systems/tumour avatars to investigate and identify clinically useful approaches to abrogate such resistance. I also have a strong research interest in the role of the microenvironment in cancer progression and resistance to therapy, specifically focusing on the role played by inflammation, bacterial antigens and host neutrophils in these processes. My team is involved with several large team projects, including studies funded by the Cancer Research UK Grand Challenge and Marathon of Hope mechanisms; I am also the lead investigator for Department of Defense (Impact) and Canadian Cancer Society/CIHR (Breakthrough) group grants that aim to translate high-throughput patient-specific cancer model-based drug testing approaches into clinical applications. Clinical Interests: Upper G.I. Cancer Program, Clinical Chemotherapy Trials for Thoracic Malignancies Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy – Gastric and Esophageal Cancer - Adjuvant Chemotherapy – Lung Cancer Areas of interest: - altered leukocyte function in sepsis - lung/esophageal cancer cell migration - outcomes for esophageal resection - the role of circumferential resection margin status in esophageal cancer