Helen Cappuccino, MD, FACS

Assistant Professor, Division of Breast Surgery
Department of Surgical Oncology
Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery
School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo

Profile

Areas of Expertise: 
Breast Cancer
Benign Breast Disease
Biography: 

I am delighted to be on staff at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. After a decade in private general surgical practice, where I treated many women with breast cancer, I accepted an invitation to join Roswell exclusively in 1999. I felt it gave me an opportunity to do two things that are important to me: develop long-term relationships with my patients, and help them by surgically treating breast cancer. Being at an institute which has a multi-disciplinary approach to cancer, emphasizes state-of-the-art treatment, and offers many resources immediately available to my patients was especially important to me. Also, I like that Roswell gives my patients access to research protocols. As a Board-certified surgeon, I feel it’s important to stay current on the new and effective treatments available to treat breast diseases. I have written chapters in surgical textbooks, and published in scientific journals, as I do my share to contribute to the body of medical knowledge.

When not in the hospital, my husband Andy (a spine surgeon, medical inventor, and a team doctor for the Buffalo Bills) and I enjoy time with our six children, currently aged 16-30. We both heed the call of civic duty, and I am active on several local non-profit boards, including the University of Buffalo and the Albright Knox Art Gallery. My husband and I travel to Africa for medical mission work, and have brought a number of children from abroad here for much-needed surgery they couldn’t get in their home countries. I consider it a privilege to care for patients, and believe strongly that the doctor patient relationship should be one based on mutual respect, openness and honesty.

Research

Research Interests: 
Growth and progression of breast carcinoma
Therapeutic hypothermia

Background Information

Education and Training: 
MD - University at Buffalo School of Medicine (Cum Laude), Buffalo, NY
BA - University at Buffalo, Presidential Honors Scholar - Cellular Physiology, Buffalo, NY
Residency: 
Monmouth Medical Center
Jersey Shore Medical Center
Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Board Certification: 
American Board of Surgery

Publications

Publications: 
  • Cappuccino A, Bisson LJ, Carpenter B, Marzo J, Dietrich III WD, Cappuccino H. The use of systemic hypothermia for the treatment of an acute cervical spinal cord injury in a professional football player. Spine 2010; 35(2):E57-E62
  • Dietrich WD, Cappuccino A, Cappuccino H. Systemic hypothermia for the treatment of acute cervical spinal cord injury in sports. Current sports medicine reports 2011; 10(1):50-54