Dr. Yi Song Fellowship Match Announcement

Aug 25, 2024

The Department of Surgery proudly congratulates Dr. Yi Song on her successful match into the Complex General Surgical Oncology (CGSO) fellowship at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Song will embark on the highly selective hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) track, a prestigious two-year program. This program offers a year of advanced training in comprehensive cancer management and surgical therapy, followed by a second year of focused, intensive training in HPB oncology and transplant surgeries. Additionally, the fellowship integrates a rigorous research component designed to cultivate the next generation of leaders in Surgical Oncology.

Dr. Song, originally from Zhejiang Province, China, completed her undergraduate studies with honors in Molecular Biology & Biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). She furthered her scientific education by earning a Master of Science degree in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Song graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (UPMC) in 2018, where she discovered her passion for Surgical Oncology during her rotation on the HPB service under the mentorship of Dr. Herbert Zeh and Dr. Amer Zureikat.

Dr. Song began her surgical residency at the State University of New York, Downstate School of Medicine (SUNY Downstate) in 2018, quickly establishing herself as a resident with exceptional clinical and surgical skills. Her commitment to advancing HPB oncology led her to pursue a two-year research fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center under the mentorship of Dr. William Jarnagin and Dr. Michael D’Angelica. There, her research on intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma demonstrated that these tumors are highly heterogeneous and form a genetic spectrum. On one end, some intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas are genetically similar to hepatocellular carcinoma, while on the other end, they closely resemble extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and gallbladder cancers. This novel perspective has significant implications for future therapies. Dr. Song’s work was showcased at the Plenary Session of the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Society of Surgical Oncology, where she received the Best Basic Science Research Paper of the Year and the Best Oral Abstract Award in the HPB track. Her findings have been published in high-impact journals such as Clinical Cancer Research and Nature Medicine, with additional manuscripts under review at Cell and others in preparation.

Currently serving as the administrative chief resident of the SUNY Downstate General Surgery Residency Program, Dr. Song is dedicated to promoting academic excellence among her peers while refining her clinical and operative expertise in her final year of residency. During her fellowship, she plans to master robotic Whipple procedures and robotic liver resections, while continuing her research on intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and colorectal liver metastases. Looking ahead, Dr. Song aspires to become a well-rounded Surgical Oncologist with a focus on HPB oncology and minimally invasive surgical techniques, while dedicating her non-clinical time to advancing surgical management in the field of HPB oncology. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Yi Song on her remarkable achievements and promising future.