Robert S. Sandler, MD, is the Nina and John Sessions Distinguished Professor of Medicine and GI division chief emeritus at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill. He is a past president of the American Gastroenterological Association Institute.
Dr. Sandler has a professional interest in patients at high risk for GI cancer — Lynch syndrome, familial polyposis and/or family history. His research interests include colon cancer etiology, screening and prevention as well as the intermediate markers of colon cancer risk.
Dr. Sandler is the principal investigator of the North Carolina Colon Cancer Study and an NCI-funded investigation to study rectal mucosal proliferation. He is also the principal investigator for the North Carolina Colorectal Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance study, which focuses on the impact of processes of cancer care on outcomes. He has received the Joseph B. Kirsner Clinical Research Award in Gastroenterology
Dr. Sandler earned his medical degree at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. He completed his residency at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He completed his fellowship at University of North Carolina, where he also earned his MPH in epidemiology.