Christopher A. D'Avella, MD
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine (Hematology-Oncology)
Attending Physican, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Attending Physican , Penn Presbyterian
Faculty Member, Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation
Quality Improvement Lead, Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
Co-Director, Cancer Diagnostic Clinic at the Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
Chief of Hematology/Oncology , Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
Department: Medicine
Contact information
Abramson Cancer Center Penn Presbyterian, 51 North 39th Street, Suite 100
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Education:
BA (Arts in Political Science )
Emory University , 2003.
Pre-Med (Medicine )
Scripps College , 2008.
MD (Medicine )
The George Washington University School of Medicine , 2013.
Permanent linkBA (Arts in Political Science )
Emory University , 2003.
Pre-Med (Medicine )
Scripps College , 2008.
MD (Medicine )
The George Washington University School of Medicine , 2013.
Description of Research Expertise
Christopher D’Avella, MD is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the Perelman School of Medicineand is the Section Chief for Hematology/Oncology at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC). He is also a faculty member of the Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation. His clinical practice focuses on thoracic and head and neck malignancies. He has research interests in health care delivery, innovation, and quality improvement. A graduate of the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, he completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Pittsburgh where he served as chief resident. He subsequently completed his fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center/Temple University in Philadelphia where he was the chief fellow. He currently leads all quality and operations at the Abramson Cancer Center at PPMC and is involved in several quality improvement and policy focused projects aimed at improving healthcare equity, access and guideline concordance.
Selected Publications
Shannon Ugarte, Christopher D'Avella, Alec Kacew, Peter Gabriel, Christine A. Ciunci, Megan Roy, Amy Schwartz, Melissa Koepke, Katie Boyk, Suzanne Walker, Jessica Tindall, Megan Mashburn, David W. Dougherty: Evaluating the impact of the cancer diagnostic clinic: A two-year update on timely access, diagnosis, and treatment. American Society of Clinical Oncology Quality Care Symposium Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL Oct 2025 Notes: "Poster Presentation"Christopher D'Avella: Inside the Boom of Urgent Care: How It’s Changing American Medicine. Interview for National Public Radio Broadcast WHYY Oct 2025.
Jacob B. Reibel, Christopher D'Avella, Igor Makhlin, Mengru Wang, Maneet Kaur Yunzhi Qian, Rebecca L. Maniago, Ivy Altomare, Lawrence N. Shulman: Guideline concordant osimertinib and durvalumab in two US non-small cell lung cancer cohorts. American Society of Clinical Oncology Quality Care Symposium, Chicago, IL Oct 2025 Notes: "Poster Presentation"
D'Avella, Chris : Dad able to look to future after biomarker testing, targeted drug therapy treat his Stage 4 cancer. CBS News Interview May 2025.
Christopher D'Avella, Meredith Doherty, E. Paul Wileyto, Jason Ma, Suzanne Walker, Jessica Jacoby, Chelsea Brown, Chiu Yi Tan, Tamara Cadet: Financial toxicity screening in an urban underserved patient population with cancer. American Society of Clinical Oncology Quality Symposium, San Fransisco, CA. Sep 2024 Notes: "Poster Presentation"
Shannon Ugarte, Christopher D'Avella, Peter Edward Gabriel, Christine Agnes Ciunci, Megan Roy, Amy Schwartz, Katie Boyk, Suzanne Walker, Jessica Tindall, and David W. Dougherty: The cancer diagnostic clinic: A rapid access clinic to improve outcomes for patients with a suspected cancer diagnosis. American Society of Clinical Oncology Quality Care Symposium Meeting, San Francisco, CA. Sep 2024 Notes: "Poster Presentation"
Sun L, Cohen RB, D'Avella CA, Singh AP, Schoenfeld JD, Hanna GJ.: Overall Survival, Treatment Duration, and Rechallenge Outcomes With ICI Therapy for Recurrent or Metastatic HNSCC. JAMA Netw Open 7(8): e2428526, Aug 2024.
Barsouk A, Friedes C, Iocolano M, Doucette A, Cohen RB, Robinson KW, D'Avella CA, Marmarelis ME, Kosteva JA, Singh AP, Ciunci CA, Levin WP, Cengel KA, Bradley JD, Feigenberg SJ, Sun L, Aggarwal C, Langer CJ, Yegya-Raman N.: Plunging Into the PACIFIC: Outcomes of Patients With Unresectable KRAS-Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Following Definitive Chemoradiation and Durvalumab Consolidation. Clin Lung Cancer 25(3): e161-e171. May 2024.
Meredith Doherty, Kellie Bresz, Kimberly Guglielmo, Christopher Davella, Tamara Cadet, Suzanne Walker, Paul Wileyto: Does financial advocacy improve appointment keeping in patients receiving chemotherapy? American Society of Clinical Oncology Quality Care Symposium, Boston, MA. Oct 2023 Notes: "Poster Presentation"
Friedes C, Yegya-Raman N, Zhang S, Iocolano M, Cohen RB, Aggarwal C, Thompson JC, Marmarelis ME, Levin WP, Cengel KA, Ciunci CA, Singh AP, D'Avella C, Davis CW, Langer CJ, Feigenberg SJ.: Patterns of Failure in Metastatic NSCLC Treated With First Line Pembrolizumab and Use of Local Therapy in Patients With Oligoprogression. Clin Lung Cancer 17(23): S1525-7304, Sep 2023.