Department of Medicine
Faculty Profiles by Division

Department of Medicine

Faculty Profiles

[Return To Index page]
photo Robert E. Schoen, MD, MPH

Gastroenterology

Professor of Medicine & Epidemiology

Email: rschoen@pitt.edu

Phone: 412-864-7078

Contact
Office: Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
200 Lothrop St. - PUH, M2, C Wing
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
 
Phone: 412-864-7078
Fax: 412-864-7080
E-mail: rschoen@pitt.edu
Administrative Assistant:
Academic Scheduling
Address: MAB, 4th Floor
3708 Fifth ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Email: mad153@pitt.edu
Phone: 412-578-9516
Fax: 412-578-9537
Administrative Assistant:
Clinical-Procedure Scheduling
Address: Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
M2, C Wing, PUH - 200 Lothrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Phone: 412-647-6650
Education and Training
Education
AB, Columbia College, 1979
MD, Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons, 1984
MPH, University of Pittsburgh, 1994
Training
Internal Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1987
Fellowship, Gastroenterology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1991
Fellowship, General Medicine, New York Hospital - Cornell Medical Center, 1988
Research Interest
Dr. Schoen is Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University Pittsburgh. His research interests are centered on early detection and prevention of colorectal cancer (CRC). He is a principal investigator in the PLCO cancer screening trial, a randomized trial of over 154,000 individuals which evaluated flexible sigmoidoscopy. He has used PLCO data to study surveillance colonoscopy utilization and yield, interval cancers, or cancers detected shortly after endoscopic procedures, and risk of colorectal cancer among subjects with a family history of cancer. Dr Schoen is the principal investigator, in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, of a multicenter randomized immunotherapy trial, evaluating a vaccine for prevention of recurrent adenomatous polyps. He is a principal investigator for the Early Detection Research Network and collaborates with scientists nationally and internationally to identify biomarkers, including circulating tumor DNA and tissue based markers, to detect and monitor cancer. He is an investigator in GECCO, the Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium, a consortium studying genetic and environmental risk factors for CRC including genome wide association studies and molecular pathologic epidemiology research and modeling of CRC risk using genetic and environmental risk factors. Dr. Schoen is a co-investigator in a study evaluating colonoscopy quality and is helping to develop a natural language processing tool to evaluate and report on colonoscopy quality in a more efficient manner. In conjunction with that project, Dr. Schoen is developing a database of colonoscopy reports from the last 20 years at UPMC hospitals, for research studies on colonoscopy.
Clinical Interest
Dr. Schoen is a general gastroenterologist with a special interest in the colon and colonic disease including colon cancer, colon polyps, and diverticulitis.
Publications
For my complete bibliography, Click Here.
Selected Publications:
Schoen RE, Pinsky PF, Weissfeld JL, Yokochi LA, ..., PLCO Project Team. Colorectal-cancer incidence and mortality with screening flexible sigmoidoscopy. N Engl J Med. 2012; 366(25): 2345-57.
Schoen RE, PinskyPF, Weissfeld JL, YOkochi LA, Church T, Laiyemo AO, Bresalier R, Hickey T, Riley T, Prorok PC. Colorectal cancers not detected by screening flexible sigmoidoscopy in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. Gastrointest Endosc. 2012; 75(3): 612-20.
Schoen, R.E., Pinsky, P.F., Weissfeld, J.L., Bresalier, R.S., Church, T., Prorok, P., Gohagan, J.K. Results of Repeat Sigmoidoscopy Three Years After a Negative Examination. The Journal of the Medical Association. 2003; 290: 41-48.
Pinsky, P.F., Schoen, R.E., Weissfeld, J.L., Church, T., Yokochi, L.A., Doria-Rose, V.P., Prorok, P. The Yield of Surveillance Colonoscopy by Adenoma History and Time to Exam. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2009; 7: 86-92.
Schoen, R.E., Pinsky, P.F., Weissfeld, J.L., Yokochi, L.A., Reding, D.J., Hayes, R.B., Church, T., Yurgalevich, S., Doria-Rose, V.P., Hickey, T., Riley, T., Berg, C.D. Utilization of Surveillance Colonoscopy in Community Practice. Gastroenterology. 2010; 138: 73-81.
Peters, U., Jiao, S., Schumacher, F.R., Hutter, C.M., Aragaki, A.K., Baron, J.A., Berndt, S.I., Bezieau, S., Brenner, H., Butterbach, K., Caan, B.J., Campbell, P.T., Carlson, C.S., Casey, G., Chan, A.T., Chang-Claude, J., Chanock, S.J., Chen, L.S., Coetzee, G.A., Coetzee, S.G. Identification of Genetic Susceptibility Loci for Colorectal Tumors in a Genome-Wide Meta-Analysis. Gastroenterology. 2013; 144: 799-807.
Kimura, T., McKolanis, J.R., Dzubinski, L.A., Islam, K., Potter, D.M., Salazar, A.M., Schoen, R.E., Finn, O.J. MUC1 Vaccine for Individuals with Advanced Adenoma of the Colon: A Cancer Immunoprevention Feasibility Study. Cancer Prevention Research. 2013; 6: 18-26.
Sanduleanu, S., le Clercq, C.M., Dekker, E., Meijer, G.A., Rabeneck, L., Rutter, M.D., Valori, R., Young, G.P., Schoen, R.E. Definition and taxonomy of interval colorectal cancers: a proposal for standardizing nomenclature. Gut. 2014; 64(8): 1257-67.
Ladabaum, U., Schoen, R.E. Post-Polypectomy Surveillance that Would Please Goldilocks-Not Too Much, Not Too Little, but Just Right. Gastroenterology. 2016; 150(4): 791-6.
Schoen, R.E., Razzak, A., Yu, K.J., Berndt, S.I., Firl, K., Riley, T.L., Pinsky, P.F. Incidence and Mortality of Colorectal Cancer in Individuals with a Family History of Colorectal Cancer. Gastroenterology. 2015.
Sponsored Research/Activities
Title: BIOMARKER DISCOVERY FOR COLORECTAL NEOPLASIA
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding Agency: Immunovia
Grant Number: RES
Start Year: 2020
End Year: 2021
Title: ctDNA for the Early Detection and Monitoring of Colorectal Cancer
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding Agency: National Cancer Institute
Grant Number: U01 CA152753
Start Year: 2016
End Year: 2021
Title: Molecular Risk Stratification for Colonoscopic Surveillance
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding Agency: Massachusetts General Hospital/National Cancer Institute
Grant Number: U01 CA182367
Start Year: 2015
End Year: 2021
Notable Achievements
J. Edward Berk, MD Endowed Lecture, American Society of GI Endoscopy, 2010
Saide Gerson Distinguished Scholar Award, U. of Pittsburgh, 2010
Lemuel Herrera MD Memorial Lecture, Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Colorectal Cancer, 2012
Best Doctor’s: Pittsburgh Magazine, 2012-16
Regional Chair for the Americas, World Endoscopy Organization, 2014-present
Past President, Pittsburgh Gut Club, 2008-present