Stephen John Maslak, MD - Northwell Health Physician Partners Medicine at East 76th Street

Marcovalerio Melis, MD, FACS, is a surgical oncologist with more than 12 years of experience in the treatment of abdominal cancers, including those in the esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, colon and rectum. He joined Northwell Health in 2020 and currently serves as the chief of surgical oncology at Phelps Hospital. Dr. Melis provides highly specialized care, including hyperthermic intraoperative chemotherapy (HIPEC)-an advanced treatment option in which a concentrated dose of chemotherapy is administered during surgery. In fact, he was the first to perform a HIPEC procedure at NYU Langone Health (then New York University Hospital), and helped develop the HIPEC program for Northwell Health. As part of a multidisciplinary team, he works alongside medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and imaging technicians to provide a holistic treatment plan unique to every patient. Dr. Melis completed his residency at the University of Chicago and his fellowship at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. He has published more than 100 articles in medical journals and research publications and continues to contribute to the advancement of surgical oncology to this day; currently, he's involved in research on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in clinical practice and how AI can enhance pancreatic cancer treatment.In the past, Dr. Melis served in leadership positions at various medical societies and committees, including the Veterans Integrated Service Networks, the Association for Academic Surgery and the American College of Surgeons. Now, he passes on his knowledge to the surgeons of tomorrow as a professor at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Dr. Melis always wanted to be a doctor, but he found that he was drawn to the hands-on approach of surgery while in medical school. As for oncology, it was the reward of saving lives that drew him in. "Helping patients fight cancer is very rewarding," he says. "It's a challenging time for them, and seeing their gratitude gets me through the day."

Ira Wagner, MD is a New York City native who graduated from Stuyvesant High School before going on to his undergraduate degree at SUNY Buffalo. He graduated from SUNY Downstate Medical School in 1976 and then did his internal medicine residency at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan. He completed his critical care medicine fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh and returned to New York, working at St. Vincent's for many years before joining the faculty at Lenox Hill Hospital in 2010. At St. Vincent's, he helped established one of the first multidisciplinary critical care fellowships and practice groups in the country. His roles at St. Vincent's including serving as the Chief of the Medical Intensive Care Unit for several years, and later serving as the Clinical Service Chief of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division. Since joining the staff of Lenox Hill Hospital in 2010, he has been the Chief of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. Dr. Wagner is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. He is board-certified in internal medicine and critical care medicine, and he also has a particular interest in medical ethics, with many years serving on the ethics committees at St. Vincent's, where he was the committee vice chair, and at Lenox Hill. Dr. Wagner is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Critical Care Medicine, and has been voted one of New York's Best Doctors from 1999-2015. He has published over 20 articles in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks.Dr. Wagner is a brilliant diagnostician in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. He remains an active intensivist at Lenox Hill, with time dedicated to patients in the medical and surgical intensive care units. He also maintains a busy general internal medicine outpatient practice, where his intelligence, skill, and kindness are highly sought in the care of even the most medically complex adult patients.Dr. Wagner is consistently ranked among Castle Connolly's Top Doctors and is beloved by his patients, as evidenced in reviews such as the following: Dr. Wagner goes over and beyond in every way. Wish there were more physicians like him. He is absolutely wonderful. Countless other patient reviews describe his intelligence, compassion, and kindness, with multiple patients proudly mentioning that he has been their physician for over 20 years.