Raphael Bueno

Dr. Raphael Bueno is the Chief of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He completed his medical training at Harvard Medical School and MIT’s Health Sciences and Technology program. He subsequently trained in General Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. He joined the BWH Thoracic Faculty in 1996. He was promoted to the rank of Professor of Surgery in 2011 and was appointed Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery in 2014. In 2017 Dr. Bueno was promoted to the Frederic G Levin Distinguished Chair of Thoracic Surgery and Lung Cancer Research at BWH. In 2021, Dr. Bueno was named Chief of the newly formed Division of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery.

Dr. Bueno’s main research interests center on the molecular events that lead to malignancy in mesothelioma and lung cancer. Specifically, Dr. Bueno focuses on developing and fine-tuning biomarkers for diagnosis, prognostis and prediction in these cancers. His research also includes tumor sequencing of Mesothelioma and identification of targetable pathways.

Dr. Bueno’s research has been funded by the NCI for over 15 years is also funded by the DOD as well as several pharmacological and device companies. His lab’s molecular research is closely integrated with the tumor bank.

Clinically and administratively, Dr. Bueno supervises a division of 21 thoracic surgeons and 6 cardiac surgeons who work at the BWH and 5 additional network hospital performing nearly 5,000 general thoracic surgical cases of all types per year. In addition, he is the surgical director of the BWH Lung Center and a co-director of the Lung Research Center. His personal surgical practice is focused on cancer surgery including mesothelioma, lung and esophageal cancer. He performs approximately 350 operations per year and actively participates in resident education and mentorship.