Robert Siegel, MD is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology, and Hematology. He is a professor with The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences.
Dr. Siegel received his BA from Stanford University in 1973 and his MD degree from George Washington University in 1977. His internship, residency, and fellowship all occurred at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Dr. Siegel returned to GW as a faculty member in 1982, was promoted to associate professor in 1989 and full professor in 2000. Upon returning to GW, he spearheaded the effort to create an oncology unit, which was dedicated in the spring of 1984 and established the Cancer Conference and Tumor Boards in the same year. He was also instrumental in establishing a certified hospital tumor registry in 1985.
Dr. Siegel's research initially focused on immune thrombocytopenic purpura and sickle cell disease. More recently, his publications have included studies that have refined the therapy of breast cancer and head and neck cancer. Dr. Siegel was among the first to document that young African American women are more likely to develop biologically more aggressive cancer compared to their Caucasian or Hispanic counterparts. Subsequent studies around the country have validated these results. He has supervised the medical school's second-year program in hematology since the fall of 1982, and has been director of the GW Board Review Course, the largest program of its kind in the country. In the past several years, 50-60% of all candidates who take the certification exam in hematology or oncology have taken the GW course.
Dr. Siegel has been director of the Oncology Unit since its inception in 1983, chairman of the Cancer Committee since 1987, director of the Clinical Cancer Center since 1993 and director of the Katzen Cancer Research Center since 2008. He was the director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology from 1997-2015. He has been a member of the Institutional Review Board for 23 of his 25 years at GW, was chairman for 5 years and co-chairman for one year. He is also the former chairman of the District of Columbia's tumor registry advisory committee.
Robert Siegel, MD, has been recognized for excellence in clinical care, and was given the Humanitarian of the Year award in 2005. In addition, he has been repeatedly recognized by Washingtonian magazine as one of the area's best physicians.
