Taylor S. Riall, MD, PhD, FACS

Taylor S. Riall, MD, PhD, FACS, is a professor in the Department of Surgery. She is the associate director of the University of Arizona Cancer Center and the co-director of the Oncology Service Line at Banner - University Medical Center Tucson. Her clinical expertise is in pancreaticobiliary surgery, including pancreatic and periampullary cancer, acute and chronic pancreatitis, gallstone disease, gastrointestinal cancer, and general surgery. Of the 90-100 pancreatic resections typically done per year at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, Dr. Riall personally performs about half of these.

Throughout the course of her career, Dr. Riall has focused pancreatic and periampullary cancer research spanning the spectrum including basic science, clinical research, population-based research, and translational research through clinical trials. Early in her career, she compiled the largest pancreatic surgery database in the world and published papers defining the treatment of patients with pancreatic and periampullary neoplasms. Subsequently, she used population-based data to study the quality of pancreatic cancer care in the U.S., evaluating the underuse of surgical resection in early-stage disease, the underuse of multimodality therapy, the quality of end-of-life care, outcomes in the elderly, the effect of depression on pancreatic cancer, hospital days and medical care days in patients with pancreatic cancer and many other topics. She is a nationally recognized expert in pancreatic disease, with more than 180 publications. She is an active participant in clinical trials at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, looking to bring her patients the most up-to-date treatment options.

Dr. Riall was the president of the Society of University Surgeons in 2018 and was secretary of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract from 2018-2022. She served on the American College of Surgeon Board of Governors from 2015-2021. She is also an executive leadership coach, trained at the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching. She applies her leadership training as a developmental tool to help surgeons and residents reach their full potential by raising self-awareness, developing emotional intelligence, clarify their goals, identifying and addressing personal challenges, and consciously improve and integrate the many facets of their lives.

Schedule an appointment with Dr. Riall