Description of Clinical Expertise

Dr. Carey provides advanced medical and surgical head and neck cancer care and reconstructive services to patients at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center. He specializes in head and neck oncologic surgery, transoral robotic surgery (TORS), and microvascular reconstructive surgery.

Description of Research Expertise

Dr. Carey is a surgeon-scientist engaged in research aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer. He runs a cancer neuroscience lab that investigates how head and neck cancer cells interact with the local tumor environment. His lab is specifically focused on G-protein coupled receptors including taste receptors and how the involved signaling pathways can regulate important cellular processes in head and neck cancer. The goal is to leverage taste receptors as biomarkers or therapeutic targets for treating malignancies. His group is actively translating their basic science findings from bench to bedside through clinical trials on therapies developed in the lab.

Dr. Carey is the sponsor-investigator for “A Phase I Randomized Controlled Trial of Intratumoral Lidocaine Injection Before Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS) and Neck Dissection for HPV-Associated Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.” NCT06747390. More information is available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06747390

Additional information about the Carey lab is available at: https://www.med.upenn.edu/carey-lab/