Dr. Andrea Wolf

About Dr. Andrea Wolf

Dr. Andrea Wolf is an experienced thoracic surgeon who thrives on the long odds and steep challenges that patients with pleural mesothelioma often face, determined to give them hope for the future.

Wolf trained under the legendary mesothelioma specialist Dr. David Sugarbaker at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She has shown the bleak prognosis that once accompanied a diagnosis is a thing of the past for those under her watch.

“I’m realistic, and there is good reason today to be optimistic. We can help these patients. We’ve proven that,” she said. “They can live with mesothelioma — if treated effectively.”

Wolf, who performs the most aggressive open-chest surgeries, is a firm believer in the multidisciplinary approach to treatment, attacking cancer from all angles. She works closely with colleague Dr. Raja Flores, a thoracic surgeon who heads the mesothelioma program at Mount Sinai.

Wolf has expertise in minimally invasive techniques that include video-assisted and laparoscopic surgery for malignant and benign diseases of the chest wall, esophagus and diaphragm.

She is the director of the recently created Women’s Lung Cancer Program at Mount Sinai, focusing on clinical expertise, research and community outreach. In 2021, Wolf launched a clinical research trial for mesothelioma patients that combines an anti-cancer vaccine with a surgical approach to improve patient outcomes. 

Dr. Wolf may have graduated with honors from prestigious institutions such as Princeton University and Harvard Medical School, but she never forgot her early years.

She was born in working-class Brooklyn and grew up in a middle-class New Jersey suburb, developing an appreciation for the underdog. She often sees this quality in her patients with mesothelioma.

“They are not Wall Street executives. They are blue collar [workers], most of them, and a lot like the people I grew up with,” she said. “If a patient wants to fight, I’ll fight this battle right alongside him. It’s the way I was raised. I’ve always loved the underdog.”

Dr. Wolf’s Role as Medical Reviewer on Asbestos.com

Wolf’s expertise in thoracic surgery and years of work in mesothelioma research more than qualify her to be an expert contributor and reviewer for The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com. Thanks to her contributions and reviews, information and content remain medically correct, current and consistent across Asbestos.com.

Her decades-long experience as a public health expert makes Wolf an ideal contributor for The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com, the nation’s most trusted mesothelioma resource.

Specialties of Dr. Andrea Wolf

Experience and Medical Education

Awards and Recognition

Mesothelioma Clinical Trials Under Dr. Andrea Wolf

Phase 1 study of the Poly-ICLC (Hiltonol) vaccine in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. The study will look at the safety and effect of poly-ICLC directly injected into pleural mesothelioma tumors at the time of biopsy prior to surgery.

Publications of Dr. Andrea Wolf