Meet Dr. Marcelo DaSilva
Thoracic Surgeon & Contributing WriterDr. Marcelo DaSilva is chief of thoracic surgery and medical director at AdventHealth Cancer Institute in Orlando, Florida, where he has built a mesothelioma specialty program. He shares his expertise as a contributing writer for The Mesothelioma Center, the nation's most trusted mesothelioma resource.
Last modified: October 19, 2023
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Certifications:- American Board of Surgery
- American Board of Thoracic Surgery
- Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Loyola University of Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (M.D.)
- General Surgery and Trauma, Penn State University College of Medicine (M.D.)
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Memberships: -
Expertise:- Pleural mesothelioma
- Robotic surgery
- Heated chemotherapy
About Dr. DaSilva
Dr. Marcelo DaSilva spent 12 years in Boston at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, home to the most celebrated mesothelioma specialty program in the world. He regularly worked alongside renowned thoracic surgeon Dr. David Sugarbaker, the famed mesothelioma pioneer.
DaSilva brought everything he learned in Boston to AdventHealth Orlando in 2019, believing he could build a program that would rival the one he left. He is well on his way.
“We want to make this a nationally — and internationally — recognized program,” he said. “Brigham and Women’s provided me with a template of how to build and grow an elite program.”
Sugarbaker taught him to be a perfectionist as a surgeon, as well as the holistic approach to patients that DaSilva practices every day.
That holistic vision includes:
- A multidisciplinary approach to healing
- Seeing each patient as a person, not a disease
- A belief that patients have innate healing powers
- Treatment involving the patient as a whole, not only lungs, the pleura or even the procedure
DaSilva has used that approach in bringing together specialists from all possible disciplines and going well beyond traditional treatment.
He often talks of focusing on the mental as well as the physical well-being of patients. His program includes rehabilitation, nutrition and exercise.
“I was told [by AdventHealth] that whatever you need, we will provide the resources,” DaSilva said. “I want to create something here like Dr. Sugarbaker did in Boston.”
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