Roger Williams Names Surgical Oncology Chief

There is a new chief of the Division of the Surgical Oncology, Dept. of Surgery, at Roger Williams Medical Center (RWMC). The recently named chief, Ponnandai Somasundar MD, MPH, FACS, associate professor of Surgery at Boston University, completed his general surgical training at the West Virginia University surgery department serving as chief resident. Subsequently, he completed a research fellowship in molecular signaling pathways in cancer from West Virginia University.

Dr. Somasundar rose to the rank of assistant professor at the same institution before completing a fellowship in surgical oncology at RWMC in 2007. Dr. Somasundar subsequently completed a master's in public health at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Dr. Somasundar has been an active member of the RWMC medical staff since 2007 and was promoted to the rank of associate professor of surgery at Boston University School of Medicine

in 2013. He has held numerous prestigious positions both locally and nationally, including RWMC medical staff president, chair of the bylaws committee, board member for the hospital's advisory board, and several peer-reviewed editorial boards. He is the author of more than 100 published peer-reviewed articles, abstracts, and chapters, and is regarded as an authority on the topic of geriatric oncology.

The division of surgical oncology administers a fully accredited Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education postgraduate fellowship in complex general surgical oncology.