Craig D. Blinderman, M.D.; Faculty Affiliate

Craig D. Blinderman, MD has been appointed Chief of the Supportive Care Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). Dr. Blinderman is a national leader in supportive care who comes to MSK from Columbia University Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where he previously served as Director of the Adult Palliative Medicine Service and Associate Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine. Prior to Dr. Blinderman’s arrival, Corita R. Grudzen, MD, MSHS, served as the Acting Chief of the Supportive Care Service since January.

Over the course of his storied career, Dr. Blinderman has published numerous articles, reviews, and chapters on topics related to supportive care in the oncology space. These include early supportive care in patients with lung cancer, cancer pain management, medical ethics, and existential distress, among others. He is widely recognized for his ability to build teams and foster the resilience necessary to care for the sickest patients.

Prior to earning his MD from Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel, Dr. Blinderman received a master’s degree in philosophy from Columbia University. His background in philosophy complements his approach to patient care, which is informed by a recognition and appreciation of the interconnected web of care relationships that we exist in. Following the completion of his MD, Dr. Blinderman trained as a family medicine resident and a hospice and palliative medicine fellow at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. He then went on to complete a fellowship in medical ethics at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.Dr. Blinderman received his undergraduate degree in chemistry (Boston University) and an M.A. in philosophy (Columbia University) before earning his medical degree from the Medical School for International Health (MSIH) at Ben Gurion University in Israel in 2002. He completed both a residency in Family Medicine and a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in NY. He then went on to complete a Medical Ethics fellowship at Harvard Medical School (2007). And is currently completing a Writing Fellowship at the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School (2020–present).