Douglas B. Evans, MD
Chair, Department of Surgery
Donald C. Ausman Family Foundation Chair
“We are committed to improving the care of patients – not only our patients of today but also our patients of tomorrow – through innovation, discovery and courageous approaches to medical illness.”
View Physician ProfileDouglas B. Evans, MD, is the Donald C. Ausman Family Foundation Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Department of Surgery at The Medical College of Wisconsin. Prior to joining the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2009, he was the Hamill Foundation Distinguished Professor of Surgery at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is board-certified in surgery, and his clinical interests include treatment of pancreatic cancer and tumors of the endocrine system (thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal and gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors). Dr. Evans holds appointments at Froedtert Hospital, the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center and Children’s Wisconsin.
Dr. Evans has devoted his professional career to the research and treatment of pancreatic cancer and inherited endocrine syndromes. His interests include translational laboratory research in the biology of pancreatic cancer and in clinical trial development. He has completed a number of investigator-initiated clinical trials, including a National Cancer Institute Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (NIH P20 SPORE) pancreatic cancer grant. At MD Anderson, his endocrine surgery group worked extensively on the genotype-phenotype correlations in multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes and they were the first to define the role for ultrasound in the preoperative management of patients with thyroid cancer. He was twice awarded the Outstanding Teacher Award at MD Anderson and he also received the Faculty Achievement Award in Clinical Research in 1998. Since joining MCW, Dr. Evans has grown the faculty across all clinical divisions in the department, emphasized the importance of innovation and discovery and championed the principles of inclusion and diversity. The MCW surgical residency program has led the way in supporting the careers of young women in general and subspecialty surgery. The MCW Program in Pancreatic Cancer was recently endowed by the LaBahn family and is one of very few endowed Pancreatic Cancer Research Programs in this country.
Dr. Evans is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of the editorial boards of Surgery and The American Journal of Surgery. He is past Editor of the Pancreatic Tumors Section of the Annals of Surgical Oncology. He served on the editorial board for the seventh edition of the AJCC (American Joint Committee on Cancer) Cancer Staging Manual and chaired the committee that revised the staging system for pancreatic cancer. He has served on various national medical advisory committees and has worked extensively with patient advocacy groups including the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) and the Lustgarten Foundation. In 2013 and 2014, Dr. Evans served as the Chair of the PanCAN-American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Acceleration Network Grants Scientific Review Committee and from 2016-2018 he served on the Scientific Review Committee for the PanCAN-AACR Career Development Awards. He was appointed to the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center External Advisory Board and currently serves on the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research PanCuRx Review Panel and the National Advisory Council for the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN).
Dr. Evans has authored or co-authored over 400 journal articles, over 90 book chapters and has edited eight books. He has delivered countless invited and named lectureships nationally and internationally. He served as the President of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons in 2010-2011. Dr. Evans was awarded the American College of Surgeons Traveling Fellowship to Australia and New Zealand in 1999.
Dr. Evans completed a general surgery residency at Dartmouth followed by a surgical oncology fellowship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He received his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and his Bachelor of Science from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He and his wife Betsy have three adult children: Courtney (Henke), Lindsay (Black) and Bryan. His J109 sailing program named Team Time Out (after the Time Out procedure done in the operating room) is active on Lake Michigan and dedicated to pancreatic cancer awareness.
“The Word on Medicine” Radio Program highlights innovation and discovery across MCW. Podcasts of previously aired shows are available through the following streaming links: iHeartRadio, iTunes, Podbean, Stitcher.
MCW Medical Moments (YouTube videos)
Listen to Dr. Douglas Evans' introduction to the 8/7/2021 Word on Medicine broadcast (audio)
Interview with an Expert - Dr. Douglas Evans (PDF)
Leading Experts in Pancreatic Cancer: expertscape Your first step to a Second Opinion
"A Love for Surgery Underpins a Career Devoted to Patients with Pancreatic Cancer" by Dr. Douglas Evans, The ASCO Post, June 3, 2021
Dr. Douglas Evans - ASTRO 2021 Honorary Member and Dr. Douglas Evans Receives 2021 ASTRO Honorary Member Award
Dr. Douglas Evans - "The Wrong Side of the Scalpel" (PDF)
Recent Publications from the Faculty Collaboration Database
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Patterns of Unnecessary Insurer Prior Authorization Denials in a Complex Surgical Oncology Practice.
(Merrill JR, Flitcroft MA, Miller T, Beichner B, Clarke CN, Maduekwe UN, Wang TS, Dream S, Christians KK, Gamblin TC, Evans DB, Kothari AN.) J Surg Res. 2023 Aug;288:269-274 PMID: 37037166 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85151667989 04/11/2023
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Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer: Quality over quantity.
(Thalji SZ, Aldakkak M, Christians KK, Clarke CN, George B, Kamgar M, Erickson BA, Hall WA, Chisholm P, Kulkarni N, Doucette S, Evans DB, Tsai S.) J Surg Oncol. 2023 Jul;128(1):41-50 PMID: 36960919 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85152449940 03/25/2023
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(Jacquart A, Schilter KF, Udani R, Evans D, Carroll TB, Reddi HV.) Clin Genet. 2023 Jul;104(1):139-141 PMID: 36840469 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85149270134 02/26/2023
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Going for Broke: The Impact of Cost of Living on Surgery Resident Stipend Value.
(Drezdzon MK, Cowley NJ, Sweeney DP, Peterson CY, Ridolfi TJ, Ludwig KA, Evans DB, Calata JF.) Ann Surg. 2023 May 25 PMID: 37226808 05/25/2023
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(Thalji SZ, Kamgar M, George B, Aldakkak M, Christians KK, Clarke CN, Erickson BA, Hall WA, Tolat PP, Smith ZL, Evans DB, Tsai S.) Ann Surg Oncol. 2023 May;30(5):3022 PMID: 36877324 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85152164746 03/07/2023
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(Thalji SZ, Kamgar M, George B, Aldakkak M, Christians KK, Clarke CN, Erickson BA, Hall WA, Tolat PP, Smith ZL, Evans DB, Tsai S.) Ann Surg Oncol. 2023 May;30(5):3013-3021 PMID: 36788189 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85147934173 02/15/2023
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Biliary Adverse Events during Neoadjuvant Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer.
(Thalji SZ, Fernando D, Dua KS, Madhavan S, Chisholm P, Smith ZL, Aldakkak M, Christians KK, Clarke CN, George B, Kamgar M, Erickson BA, Hall WA, Evans DB, Tsai S.) Ann Surg. 2023 Apr 20 PMID: 37078282 04/20/2023
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(Verhagen NB, Koerber NK, Szabo A, Taylor B, Wainaina JN, Evans DB, Kothari AN, N3C Consortium.) Ann Surg Oncol. 2023 Mar;30(3):1305-1308 PMID: 36479662 PMCID: PMC9734328 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85143492422 12/09/2022
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(Hall WA, Evans DB, Tsai S.) JAMA Oncol. 2023 Feb 01;9(2):275-276 PMID: 36454556 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85148307010 12/02/2022
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(Saif A, Verbus E, Erickson B, Kamgar M, Tsai S, Evans D, Hernandez JM, Hall WA.) Ann Surg Oncol. 2023 Feb;30(2):688-690 PMID: 36427115 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85145451354 11/26/2022
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(Hammad AY, Hodges JC, AlMasri S, Paniccia A, Lee KK, Bahary N, Singhi AD, Ellsworth SG, Aldakkak M, Evans DB, Tsai S, Zureikat A.) JAMA Surg. 2023 Jan 01;158(1):55-62 PMID: 36416848 PMCID: PMC9685551 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85146193450 11/24/2022
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(Nakamura K, Zhu Z, Roy S, Jun E, Han H, Munoz RM, Nishiwada S, Sharma G, Cridebring D, Zenhausern F, Kim S, Roe DJ, Darabi S, Han IW, Evans DB, Yamada S, Demeure MJ, Becerra C, Celinski SA, Borazanci E, Tsai S, Kodera Y, Park JO, Bolton JS, Wang X, Kim SC, Von Hoff D, Goel A.) Gastroenterology. 2022 Nov;163(5):1252-1266.e2 PMID: 35850192 PMCID: PMC9613527 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85138796559 07/20/2022
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(Livschitz J, Yen TWF, Evans DB, Wang TS, Dream S.) JAMA Surg. 2022 Sep 14 PMID: 36103163 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85138369049 09/15/2022
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(Dream S, Yen TWF, Doffek K, Evans DB, Wang TS.) Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2022 Aug;407(5):2067-2073 PMID: 35538172 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85129711351 05/11/2022