Timothy R. Donahue, MD
- Surgical Oncology
About
Dr. Timothy Donahue is Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology and Professor of Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He also has a joint appointment in the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology to facilitate his research program. Dr. Donahue is the Surgical Director of the UCLA Agi Hirshberg Center for Pancreatic Diseases. He is a very busy pancreatic surgeon and performs three to four pancreatic surgeries per week. He and his team perform the most complex of operations and have amongst the best outcomes in the world. He is genuinely interested in caring for patients with pancreatic cancer and making sure they receive state-of-the-art care. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Donahue is the Principal Investigator of a National Institutes of Health funded research laboratory. His scientific research focuses on developing new drugs and better treatment strategies for patients with pancreatic cancer. To do so, he collaborates with numerous other researchers across the UCLA campus. He is also dedicated to training the next generation of academic surgeons and serves as the Program Director of the UCLA General Surgery Residency.
Languages
Education
Medical Board Certification
Residency
Internship
Degree
Recognitions
-
Top doctors, Los Angeles Magazine's Top Doctors 2023
- Super Doctors® Southern California 2022
- Top Doctors, Los Angeles Magazine, 2021
- NIH LRP Renewal, 2015 – 2016
- See More
Locations
UCLA Agi Hirshberg Center for Pancreatic Diseases
Hospital Affiliations
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center
Medical Services
Areas of Focus
Videos
Research
Interests
- Molecular genetics of pancreatic cancer
Publications
Link to Dr. Donahue's PubMed publications >
- Donahue, T.R., Tran, L.M., Hill, R., Li, Y., Kovochich A., Calvopina, J.H., Patel, S.G., Wu, N., Hindoyan, A., Farrell, J.J., Li, X., Dawson, D.W., Wu, H., "Integrative Survival-Based Molecular Profiling of Human Pancreatic Cancer." Clinical Cancer Research, 18(5): 1352-63, 2012. PMCID: PMC3816537.
- Kadera BE, Toste PA, Wu N, Li L, Nguyen AH, Dawson DW, Donahue TR, "Low expression of the E3 ubiquitin ligase CBL confers chemoresistance in human pancreatic cancer and is targeted by epidermal growth factor receptor inhibition," Clin Cancer Res, 2014, Oct 27. PMCID: PMC4286535.
- Donahue, T.R., Isacoff, W.H., Hines, O.J., Tomlinson J.S., Farrell, J.J., Bhat, Y.M., Garon, E., Clerkin, B.M., Reber, H.A., "Downstaging Chemotherapy (DCTx) May Alter The Classic CT/MRI Signs of Vascular Involvement in Patients with Pancreaticobiliary Cancers. This Should Influence Patient Selection for Surgery." Archives of Surgery, 146(7): 836-43, 2011.
- Kadera BE, Sunjaya DB, Isacoff WH, Li L, Hines OJ, Tomlinson JS, Dawson DW, Rochefort MM, Donald GW, Clerkin BM, Reber HA, Donahue TR, "Locally advanced pancreatic cancer: association between prolonged preoperative treatment and lymph-node negativity and overall survival." JAMA Surgery, 149(2): 145-53, 2014.
- Williams JL, Kadera BE, Nguyen AH, Muthusamy VR, Wainberg ZA, Hines, OJ, Reber HA, Donahue TR, "CA19-9 Normalization During Pre-operative Treatment Predicts Longer Survival for Patients with Locally Progressed Pancreatic Cancer," J Gastrointest Surg. 20(7):1331-42, 2016.
- Toste PA, Nguyen AH, Kadera BE, Duong M, Wu N, Gawlas I, Tran LM, Bikhchandani M, Li L, Patel SG, Dawson DW, Donahue TR, "Chemotherapy-induced Inflammatory Gene Signature and Pro-tumorigenic Phenotype in Pancreatic CAFs via Stress-associated MAPK," Mol Cancer Res, 14(5): 437-47, 2016.
- Williams JL, Nguyen AH, Rochefort M, Muthusamy VE, Wainberg ZA, Dawson DW, Tomlinson JS, Hines OJ, Reber HA, Donahue TR, "Pancreatic cancer patients with lymph node involvement by direct tumor extension have similar survival to those with node-negative disease," J Surg Onc, 112(4):396-402, 2015.
- Nguyen AH, Toste P, Farrell JJ, Clerkin BM, Muthusamy VR, Watson R, Tomlinson JS, Hines OJ, Reber HA, Donahue TR, "Current Indications for Surgery of Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms May Overlook Some Patients with Cancer: Recommendations for Change," J. Gastrointest Surg., 19(2): 258 – 65, 2015.
- Toste PA, Kadera BE, Tatishchev SF, Dawson DW, Clerkin BM, Muthusamy R, Watson R, Tomlinson JS, Hines OJ, Reber HA, Donahue TR, "Nonfunctional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors < 2 cm on preoperative imaging are associated with a low incidence of nodal metastases and an excellent overall survival." J Gastrointest Surgery, 17(12):2105-13, 2013.
- Farrell JJ, Toste PM, Wu N, Li L, Li X, Lin TM, Wong J, Wu X, Dawson DW, Wu H, Donahue TR, "Endoscopically acquired pancreatic cyst fluid microRNA 21 and 221 are associated with invasive cancer," American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2013 Aug;108(8):1352-9.
Insurance
- Aetna
- Anthem Blue Cross
- Blue Shield of California
- Centivo
- Cigna
- First Health
- Health Net of California
- Interplan (part of HealthSmart)
- L.A. Care
- MultiPlan
- UFCM Health System
- Prime Health Services
- Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
- TRICARE
- UnitedHealthcare
The list of health care plans above may not be comprehensive and could change.
Please contact your benefits coordinator or health insurance company directly to verify coverage.
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Recognitions
- Super Doctors® Southern California 2022
- Top Doctors, Los Angeles Magazine, 2021
- NIH LRP Renewal, 2015 – 2016
- NIH LRP Renewal, 2014 – 2015
- NIH LRP Renewal, 2013 – 2014
- NIH LRP Renewal, 2012 – 2013
- NIH Loan Repayment Program (LRP), 2010 – 2012
- Most Outstanding Chief Resident Medical Student Teaching Award, 2009
- Most Outstanding Vascular Surgery Chief Resident, 2008
- ASCO Foundation Merit Award. 2008
- Outstanding Medical Student Teaching Award, UCLA, 2006
- Outstanding Medical Student Teaching Award, UCLA, 2005