Benjamin D. Powers, MD

• Wayne State University School of Medicine, M.D.
• Temple University Hospital, Residency, General Surgery
• Moffitt Cancer Center, Fellowship, Complex General Surgical Oncology

Certifications:

• General Surgery
• Surgical Oncology

Dr. Powers is a surgical oncologist and assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He is board-certified in both general surgery and surgical oncology.

gastrointestinal oncology, colorectal cancer, peritoneal disease, appendiceal cancer, peritoneal mesothelioma, pancreatic cancer

Moore KA, Schnoor B, McNaughton KL, Rahman I, Powers BD, Roque DM, Huang HC. Inhibition of P-glycoprotein using photoimmunotherapy in peritoneal metastasis mouse model. Photochem Photobiol. 2026 Mar 2. doi: 10.1111/php.70075. PMID: 41766578.

Bansal VV, Godfrey EL, Sadjadi J, Bello RJ, Kwakman R, Abreu AA, Vudatha V, Sparkman BK, Freudenberger DC, Su DG, Turaga KK, Micic D, Malec M, Tun S, Polite B, Lambert LA, Greenbaum A, Gunderson CG, Smith TJ, Kopecky KE, Powers BD, Maduekwe UN, Ward EP; Peritoneal Surface Malignancies (PSM) Consortium Group. Consensus Guideline for the Management of Malignant Gastrointestinal Obstruction in Patients with Peritoneal Surface Malignancies. Ann Surg Oncol. 2026 Jun;33(6):5240-5259. doi: 10.1245/s10434-025-17362-1. Epub 2025 Jun 25. PMID: 40560502.

Bari S, Matejcic M, Kim RD, Xie H, Sahin IH, Powers BD, Teer JK, Chan TA, Felder SI, Schmit SL. Practice Patterns and Survival Outcomes of Immunotherapy for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Mar 3;8(3):e251186. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.1186. PMID: 40111368; PMCID: PMC11926646.

His primary research focus is the improving treatment and outcomes for peritoneal disease patients. He is a member of the Peritoneal Surface Malignancy Consortium (formerly, Chicago Consensus) Working Group, which has published multidisciplinary, international guidelines for the management of peritoneal surface malignancies. Dr. Powers also contributed to the US HIPEC Collaborative, a multi-institutional peritoneal disease dataset which has led to numerous manuscripts. Since coming to the University of Maryland School of Medicine, he has collaborated with Dr. Huang Chiao Huang who leads the Optical Therapeutics & Nanotechnology Laboratory at the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland. Together, they have been awarded several grants to develop and test a light-activatable nanotechnology to concurrently directly treat and also overcome chemoresistance to HIPEC in colorectal peritoneal metastasis. 

Dr. Powers' secondary research interest is in cancer care coordination and delivery. His primary focus is to reduce cancer treatment disparities by developing and refining a care coordination research framework for gastrointestinal cancers. He and his research team have begun to design and test an intervention to address treatment disparities and improve the quality of care for pancreatic cancer patients. He has led multiple initiatives that encompass clinical care, translational research, clinical trials and trainee education.

Dr. Powers' area of specialty is gastrointestinal oncology. His specific area of expertise is in the treatment of peritoneal disease and he is a specialist in high-complexity cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). His other areas of clinical focus include cancers of the colon and rectum, stomach, small bowel, and pancreas.

Affiliate Member
Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices
University of Maryland College Park

National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I.  Role: Co-I Optimizing delivery of targeted photoactivatable nanoparticles for photoimmunotherapy of peritoneal metastasis  PI: Sumiao Pang, PhD  6/1/2025 to 5/31/2027