Dr. Raja Michael Flores

About Dr. Raja Flores

Dr. Raja M. Flores is the Steven and Ann Ames Professor in Thoracic Surgery and System Chair of Thoracic Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System. His clinical work includes pleural mesothelioma, lung cancer, esophageal cancer and other diseases affecting the chest.

He trained under mesothelioma treatment pioneer Dr. David Sugarbaker at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Flores completed his cardiothoracic surgery training there after finishing his general surgery residency at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. He also earned a master’s degree in biostatistics from Columbia University.

Dr. Flores has spent much of his career treating people with pleural mesothelioma and studying how surgery fits into multidisciplinary care. His work has included clinical trials, studies of surgical outcomes and research into the health effects of asbestos exposure.

Mesothelioma Procedures Dr. Flores Performs

Dr. Flores has helped advance surgery for pleural mesothelioma and has participated in research examining multimodal treatment, asbestos exposure and surgical outcomes. His current research includes studies of pleural mesothelioma surgery, biomarkers and new approaches that combine surgery with immunotherapy.

His surgical expertise includes pleurectomy and decortication, extrapleural pneumonectomy, thoracotomy and minimally invasive procedures. Dr. Flores also has extensive experience with video-assisted thoracic surgery, known as VATS and robot-assisted thoracic procedures.

Dr. Flores has said the relationship between surgeon and patient extends beyond performing an operation. He emphasizes helping people understand their options and knowing their medical team has considered every reasonable approach.

“At the end of the day, patients just want to feel like you did everything you possibly could, that you didn’t leave any stone unturned, in trying to help them,” he said. “They want to know you give it everything you have. And I do. This is not a job for me. It’s a calling.”

Exclusive Content

Dr. Raja Flores: 25 Years Later: Ongoing Health Toll of 9/11

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As a kid, I used to ride my skateboard in between the Twin Towers. I worked there during college. I worked for UPS delivering through all those buildings, and on the first floor was where our little stalls used to be. So when those buildings went down, a piece of me died with it.

A kid in my high school that I graduated with died in those buildings. So it’s a very personal thing. Now what’s happening at the twenty fifth anniversary, there’s a new moment of silence for people who have died from 9-11 related illnesses. And more people have died from 9-11 illnesses now that died on that day.

What people don’t understand is that there are people out there that are still alive. So in my practice as a thoracic surgeon, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, mesothelioma, I have patients who’ve been cured of those diseases who are still suffering. They’re being treated. They’re alive.

But there’s no moment of silence for them. There’s no bell that’s ringing to focus on them. They’re lucky if they get health care. From my perspective, as thoracic surgeon, I still see the effects of 9-11, not just physically, but emotionally.

So from a exposure perspective, they were exposed to asbestos, pulverized concrete, heavy metals, etc. These are carcinogenic. These cause cancer. When you look at the effects of 9-11, the number one thing is chronic sinusitis.

Number two is cancer.

So we’ve got to be aware of what is happening with these patients so that we can treat them and so that we can screen them. So many patients ask, Doc, I was exposed twenty five years ago. Do I still need to be worried about it? The typical thing, mesothelioma.

You get exposed to asbestos, you don’t get measles till thirty years later. And I think that’s what’s happening with 9-11. Many people were exposed. Some don’t even know that there are programs that they can join to get monitored.

And then they show up with advanced cancer. It’s not just the first responders, the police officers, firefighters, construction workers. You had a bunch of kids in school there, Stuyvesant High School. You had a bunch of people who lived in Tribeca, in Brooklyn, where you saw that plume of smoke over downtown Brooklyn.

And I think you just need them to know that this is a possibility. There are many things that are screenable, and that’s how we can help now, is to make sure that we can screen patients who are at high risk. There’s a lot of cancers that we are seeing from 9-11, and from my standpoint as a thoracic surgeon, I want that patient screened with a low dose CAT scan. You should be getting screened.

A doctor should be looking at you at least once a year.

Specialties of Dr. Flores

• Esophageal cancer
• Lung cancer
• Minimally invasive thoracic surgery
• Pleural mesothelioma
• Pleurectomy and decortication
• Robot-assisted thoracic surgery
• Thoracic surgical oncology
• Thoracotomy
• VATS lobectomy

Dr. Raja Flores’ Experience and Medical Education

• Mount Sinai Health System, Professor and System Chair of Thoracic Surgery
• Mount Sinai Health System, Steven and Ann Ames Professor in Thoracic Surgery
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, former thoracic surgeon
• Brigham and Women’s Hospital, (Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency)
• Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, (Thoracic Oncology Clinical Research Fellowship)
• Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, (General Surgery Residency)
• Columbia University, (M.S. in Biostatistics)
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine, (M.D.)
• New York University, (B.A. in Biochemistry)

Associations, Awards & Recognition

• American Board of Surgery, Surgery
• American Board of Thoracic Surgery, Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery
• America’s Top Doctors, Castle Connolly, 2012–2014
• Distinguished Alumni Service, New York University
• Principal Investigator, Libby Epidemiology Research Program
• Society of Honorary Police Surgeons, NYPD
• Steven and Ann Ames Professorship in Thoracic Surgery, Mount Sinai Health System

Why Choose Dr. Flores for Pleural Mesothelioma

Dr. Flores has a strong research background and extensive experience in mesothelioma surgeries including pleurectomy and decortication and extrapleural pneumonectomy. He has also worked with people affected after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. 

His connection to first responders and workers with occupational asbestos exposure has shaped how he approaches people facing serious thoracic diseases. He speaks about these workers with an understanding of the people behind the job titles.

“Many of them are blue-collar guys, insulators, asbestos workers, pipe fitters, shipyard workers,” Dr. Flores said. “I can identify with them, and they can see that I know how this disease is hitting them.”

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Publications of Dr. Raja Flores

• Flores R.M. et al. (2026, September 6). Fixing A Problem That May Not Exist: 3N2 + 1N1 Mandate Prioritizes Compliance Over Safety. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jso.70392
• Flores R.M. et al. (2026, August 13). Sex-Specific Patterns of Asbestos Exposure and Prognostic Biomarkers in Surgically Treated Pleural Mesothelioma: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/18/16/2624
• Flores R.M. et al. (2026, August). Phase 1/1b Study of Direct Intratumoral Injection of Pleural Mesothelioma of Immunostimulant Prior to Surgical Resection. Retrieved from https://www.jtcvs.org/article/S0022-5223(26)00792-0/abstract
• Flores R.M. et al. (2026, July). Disaster on MARS2? Lessons Learned From Modern Day Outcomes of Surgery for Pleural Mesothelioma. Retrieved from https://www.annalsthoracicsurgery.org/article/S0003-4975(26)00105-0/abstract
• Flores R.M. et al.  (2019, June 5). Biomarkers for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: A Meta-Analysis. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/carcin/article-abstract/40/11/1320/5512004
• Flores R.M. et al. (2019, November 7). An Overview of Existing Mesothelioma Registries Worldwide, and the Need for a U.S. Registry. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajim.23069

Dr. Flores’ Role as Medical Reviewer on Asbestos.com

Flores’ experience with mesothelioma, work with first responders and extensive research experience qualify him as a contributor and reviewer for The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com. He ensures the topics and content on Asbestos.com informational pages meet the latest medical and scientific standards.

Flores has served as a reviewer and editorial board member on several reputable medical journals, including Journal Clinics in Oncology, Journal Clinics in Surgery, Journal of Thoracic Diseases, and Annals of Translational Medicine among others.