POUGHKEEPSIE – Dr. Rodrigo Erlich has joined Nuvance Health as the medical director of medical oncology at the Dyson Center for Cancer Care on the campus of Vassar Brothers Medical Center.
“Patients should feel confident that they do not need to travel far from home to receive quality cancer care,” Erlich said. “This team of cancer specialists is committed to a high level of care, compassion and dignity as patients navigate their diagnosis, undergo treatment and recover from illness.”
Erlich’s goal at the cancer center is to develop a compassionate, high-level clinical and research program covering the most common cancers. He hopes to expand the Vassar Brothers Medical Center’s cancer program by recruiting talented new oncologists and hematologists.
“I am committed to implementing immunotherapy trials, as immunotherapy has been a significant and important development in the fight against cancer,” he said.
Most recently, Erlich worked as a gastrointestinal oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering in Basking Ridge, N.J. Throughout his career, he has served as Chief of Medical Oncology and founder of the geriatric oncology fellowship program at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Chief of Medical Oncology at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, and Director of the Geisinger Henry Cancer Center in Wilkes Barre, Pa. He is also the founder and co-director of multidisciplinary oncology clinics at Mount Sinai Hospital and the Geisinger Henry Cancer Center. At the clinics, care is offered to patients with thoracic cancers, gastrointestinal cancer, and brain tumors.
While working in Maryland he also had a large breast cancer clinic and was involved in the care of many patients with blood malignancies.
Erlich received his medical degree in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1986, and has been involved in the care of cancer patients for 26 years. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a fellowship in Medical Oncology/Hematology at the University of Pittsburgh Hillman Cancer Center. He also participated in a post-doctorate fellowship in cancer research at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, International Society of Gastrointestinal Oncology, and Maryland and D.C. Society of Clinical Oncology. Erlich has been recognized as a top oncologist and hematologist in Maryland and Pennsylvania and has participated in numerous clinical trials, with multiple publications in respected medical journals.
In his spare time, he enjoys travel, playing chess and tennis, and spending time with his family in New York City and New Jersey.
