Andrew J Kaufman, MD

Dr. Andrew J. Kaufman, an expert in advanced minimally invasive thoracic surgery and thoracic surgical oncology, is the Director of The Thoracic Surgery Airway Program and The Asian Thoracic Surgery Program at Mount Sinai, as well as the Associate Program Director for the Thoracic Surgery Residency Program.  He attended New York University School of Medicine for medical school and general surgery training.  He completed a two year research fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and was awarded a national TSFRE Research Fellowship Grant and the Chairman’s Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research.

Dr. Kaufman went on to complete his residency on the Thoracic Surgery track in cardiothoracic surgery, specializing in thoracic surgery, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center/New York Hospital Weill-Cornell Medical Center as the Memorial Fellow in General Thoracic Surgery where he received the Alumni Foundation Award for All-Around Clinical Excellence.  He is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.

Dr. Kaufman especially enjoys spending time with and getting to know the people he meets in the office and hospital. He is dedicated to the compassionate care of people and their families across all social, economic, and cultural backgrounds. Having lived and studied in China for two years, Dr. Kaufman is fluent in Mandarin and conversational in Cantonese. His background in Asian language and culture inspired the development of the Asian Thoracic Surgery Program at the Mount Sinai.  The program focuses on providing the most advanced multidisciplinary care for the Asian community with the goal of integrating community outreach, patient education, and scientific research to provide comprehensive care in this important New York City population.

Dr. Kaufman is clinically focused on advanced minimally invasive and lung sparing surgery for thoracic malignancies.  These specialized cancer operations conserve lung tissue and preserve respiratory function with faster recovery times. Andrew has published and presented widely on his lung sparing techniques of Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) segmentectomy for early lung cancers as well as pleurectomy and decortication for malignant pleural mesothelioma. His research interests are focused on combining clinical, pathologic, and genetic data to better understand lung cancer in smokers and non-smokers.

Dr. Kaufman works closely with the Interventional Pulmonary Division to locate and mark small early cancers with Navigational Bronchoscopy in order to facilitate VATS lung sparing segmentectomy. This collaboration is also essential to The Thoracic Surgery Airway Program, which focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant diseases of the trachea and airways, such as tracheobronchomalacia and tracheal stenosis, utilizing both surgical and interventional techniques.

In his spare time, Dr. Kaufman enjoys spending time with his wife and two terrific daughters. He is an avid cook, guitarist, and tennis player.