Memorial Sloan Kettering surgeon Vinod Balachandran

Vinod P. Balachandran, MD

Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgeon

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma)
  • Gallbladder cancer

My Specialties

  • Immunotherapy
  • Cancer vaccines
  • Laparoscopic surgery
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Dr. Balachandran's Office Information
Languages: English
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Get to Know Me

I am a surgical oncologist with special training in surgery to treat people for both benign (non-cancerous) and cancerous diseases of the pancreas, bile duct, gallbladder, and liver. I also research new ways to treat pancreatic cancer using the immune system. I have dedicated my career to providing exceptional care for people with pancreatic cancer, and bring deep experience, knowledge, and a relentless commitment to my patients to achieve this.

I first came to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in 2006 as a young surgeon. The teamwork, determination, and passion to solve every problem for every patient was inspiring and unlike anything I had ever experienced. I knew MSK was extraordinary, and that I would be privileged to join its mission to end cancer for life.

I bring the same intensity, determination, and dedication to every surgery I perform, and every patient I care for. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most complex and difficult diseases to treat and requires the experience of a highly specialized surgical team. At MSK, our team brings deep expertise. For every patient, we follow the MSK philosophy – do it once, do it right, and do it efficiently – from diagnosis to treatment to recovery. We also recognize that every person is unique and commit our team’s full resources to meeting their needs.

In addition to performing surgeries and caring for patients, I run a research laboratory in the Immuno-Oncology Program at MSK. Here, my team is working to discover new ways to activate the immune system to treat pancreatic cancer. We are also working to convert these discoveries into new medicines that help patients. To achieve these goals rapidly, I helped found and direct The Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines, an academic research center designed to speed up laboratory discoveries into new immunotherapies for patients.   

Pancreatic cancer urgently needs new, more effective treatments. Among the most promising new cancer treatments are immunotherapies, a type of cancer treatment that boosts a patient’s own immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells. Immunotherapy works well for tumors that are full of active immune cells and immune signals. Pancreatic cancer, however, lacks these features, and as a result, current immunotherapies do not work for most people.

My lab made the surprising discovery that this is, in fact, not true in all people with pancreatic cancer. An extremely rare group of long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer have tumors that are enriched in cancer-fighting immune cells. These immune cells recognize genetic defects found only in pancreatic cancer cells called neoantigens. Neoantigens are flags that allow the immune system to recognize cancer cells as unhealthy and eliminate them. 

We further discovered that neoantigens trigger long-lasting immunity against pancreatic cancer in long-term survivors, possibly allowing their immune system to remember and prevent the cancer from returning for many years. We believe this unique anti-cancer immune response is an important clue as to why these patients survive so long.

These findings also unlocked a new, exciting path to treat pancreatic cancer with neoantigen vaccines. Cancer in each patient has its own neoantigens, and so these therapeutic cancer vaccines must be custom-made for each patient. By analyzing the genetic composition of each individual tumor, we create a medicine that can train that person’s immune system to recognize and attack that specific type of cancer. Unlike preventative vaccines that prevent infectious diseases in healthy people, therapeutic cancer vaccines treat patients who have deadly cancers.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we initiated the first clinical trial of personalized cancer neoantigen vaccines to treat pancreatic cancer. The promising results of our cancer vaccine trial have sparked efforts at MSK and across the globe to use cancer vaccines for more people with pancreatic cancer, and other deadly cancers.

Currently, there are around 10 cancer vaccine clinical trials enrolling at MSK through The Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines. More trials are in the planning stage, and many more are currently active worldwide.

What I Do at MSK

I'm a hepatopancreatobiliary (heh-PA-toh-PAN-kree-A-to-BIH-lee-AYR-ee) surgeon at MSK. This is a doctor with special training in surgery on the liver, pancreas, gallbladder, and bile ducts. They’re also called an HPB surgeon.

  • Hutham S. Olayan and Robert F. Raucci Chair
  • Director, The Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines at MSK
Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma)
  • Gallbladder cancer
  • Liver cancer and conditions

My Specialties

  • Immunotherapy
  • Cancer vaccines
  • Laparoscopic surgery
  • Robotic surgery
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, SUNY at Stony Brook

Residencies

  • General Surgery - New York-Presbyterian Hospital

Fellowships

  • Complex Surgical Oncology - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Board Certifications

  • Surgery

Awards and Honors

  • TIME100 Most Influential People in Health (2025)
  • Washington Post 50 Most Influential People in Health (2025)
  • FNIH Trailblazer Prize for Clinician-Scientists (2023)

Insurance Information

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If you don't have health insurance or are worried that your care may not be fully covered, our financial assistance programs may be able to help.

If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.

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Contact and Location

Office Phone
Location
New York, NY
Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion
160 East 53rd Street New York NY 10022
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Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

See all Hepatopancreatobiliary Service doctors

Clinical Trials

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Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

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Research and Publications

View Dr. Balachandran's Lab

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Balachandran’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

See all on PubMed

Disclosures

Members of the MSK Community often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community. These activities outside of MSK further our mission, provide productive collaborations, and promote the practical application of scientific discoveries.

MSK requires doctors, faculty members, and leaders to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public. Not all disclosed interests and relationships present conflicts of interest. MSK reviews all disclosed interests and relationships to assess whether a conflict of interest exists and whether formal COI management is needed.

Vinod P. Balachandran discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • AbbVie
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Genentech
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Merck Sharp & Dohme
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Pfizer, Inc.
    Professional Services and Activities

If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2024 through disclosure submission in spring 2025). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at ecoi@mskcc.org.


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