Medical Oncology

Syed Yousuf Zafar, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine
Associate Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Affiliate, Duke Global Health Institute
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute
Member in the Duke Clinical Research Institute
Campus mail Duke Box 3505, Durham, NC 27710
Phone (919) 684-8111
Email address yousuf.zafar@duke.edu

Dr. Zafar is a health services researcher with a focus in improving care delivery for patients with advanced cancer. He has obtained advanced training in health services research and has participated in single-institution, multi-institution and national studies focusing on access to care, cost of care, and comparative effectiveness of care delivery between health systems. His primary area of interest is in the cost of cancer care. He has conducted institutional and national studies on how treatment-related costs impact cancer patients' experience. His current work in this arena is focused on patient preferences regarding cost-related communication and decision-making.

A second field of interest is palliative care. Dr. Zafar has collaborated with national and international palliative care leaders to improve the design and delivery of palliative care in cancer clinical trials. Methodologically, this work has centered around systematic literature reviews, iterative surveys, and prospective clinical trials.

Dr. Zafar is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Health Disparities and Clinical Practice Guideline Committees. He is a member of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology's Health Disparities and Health Outcomes Committees. Dr. Zafar's work has been funded by the American Cancer Society, the HealthWell Foundation, the Duke Cancer Prevention and Control Program, the Duke Clinical Research Institute, and the CALGB Foundation.

In Their Words

Education and Training

  • Fellow in Hematology-Oncology, Medicine, Duke University, 2005 - 2008
  • Resident, Medicine, University of Cincinnati, 2002 - 2005
  • M.D., University of Toledo, 2002

Grants

Publications

Taylor, DH, Danis, M, Zafar, SY, Howie, LJ, Samsa, GP, Wolf, SP, and Abernethy, AP. "There is a mismatch between the medicare benefit package and the preferences of patients with cancer and their caregivers." Journal of Clinical Oncology : Official Journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 32, no. 28 (October 2014): 3163-3168.

PMID
25154830
Full Text

Smith, SK, Nicolla, J, and Zafar, SY. "Bridging the gap between financial distress and available resources for patients with cancer: a qualitative study." Journal of Oncology Practice 10, no. 5 (September 2014): e368-e372.

PMID
24865219
Full Text

Rangwala, F, Bendell, JC, Kozloff, MF, Arrowood, CC, Dellinger, A, Meadows, J, Tourt-Uhlig, S, Murphy, J, Meadows, KL, Starr, A, Broderick, S, Brady, JC, Cushman, SM, Morse, MA, Uronis, HE, Hsu, SD, Zafar, SY, Wallace, J, Starodub, AN, Strickler, JH, Pang, H, Nixon, AB, and Hurwitz, HI. "Phase I study of capecitabine, oxaliplatin, bevacizumab, and everolimus in advanced solid tumors." Investigational new drugs 32, no. 4 (August 2014): 700-709.

PMID
24711126
Full Text

Danis, M, Abernethy, AP, Zafar, SY, Samsa, GP, Wolf, SP, Howie, L, and Taylor, DH. "A decision exercise to engage cancer patients and families in deliberation about Medicare coverage for advanced cancer care." BMC health services research 14 (July 19, 2014): 315-.

PMID
25038783
Full Text

Zafar, SY, Tulsky, JA, and Abernethy, AP. "It's time to have 'the talk': cost communication and patient-centered care." Oncology (Williston Park, N.Y.) 28, no. 6 (June 2014): 479-480.

PMID
25134320
Scholars@Duke

Bestvina, CM, Zullig, LL, Rushing, C, Chino, F, Samsa, GP, Altomare, I, Tulsky, J, Ubel, P, Schrag, D, Nicolla, J, Abernethy, AP, Peppercorn, J, and Zafar, SY. "Patient-oncologist cost communication, financial distress, and medication adherence." Journal of Oncology Practice 10, no. 3 (May 2014): 162-167.

PMID
24839274
Full Text

Chino, F, Peppercorn, J, Taylor, DH, Lu, Y, Samsa, G, Abernethy, AP, and Zafar, SY. "Self-reported financial burden and satisfaction with care among patients with cancer." The Oncologist 19, no. 4 (April 2014): 414-420.

PMID
24668333
Full Text

Strickler, JH, McCall, S, Nixon, AB, Brady, JC, Pang, H, Rushing, C, Cohn, A, Starodub, A, Arrowood, C, Haley, S, Meadows, KL, Morse, MA, Uronis, HE, Blobe, GC, Hsu, SD, Zafar, SY, and Hurwitz, HI. "Phase I study of dasatinib in combination with capecitabine, oxaliplatin and bevacizumab followed by an expanded cohort in previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer." Invest New Drugs 32, no. 2 (April 2014): 330-339.

PMID
24173967
Full Text

Peppercorn, J, Zafar, SY, Houck, K, Ubel, P, and Meropol, NJ. "Does comparative effectiveness research promote rationing of cancer care?." The Lancet Oncology 15, no. 3 (March 1, 2014). (Review)

Full Text

van Ryn, M, Phelan, SM, Arora, NK, Haggstrom, DA, Jackson, GL, Zafar, SY, Griffin, JM, Zullig, LL, Provenzale, D, Yeazel, MW, Jindal, RM, and Clauser, SB. "Patient-reported quality of supportive care among patients with colorectal cancer in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System." Journal of Clinical Oncology : Official Journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 32, no. 8 (March 2014): 809-815.

PMID
24493712
Full Text

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