Michael Francis Walsh, MD

Description

Michael F. Walsh, M.D., is a board-certified medical geneticist specializing in hereditary cancer predisposition at Baptist Health Herbert Wertheim Cancer Institute. He serves as deputy director of Baptist Health Cancer Care and chief of the Herbert Wertheim Center for Cancer Prevention. His clinical and research interests focus on hereditary cancer predisposition in adults and children. He studies inherited and acquired genetic changes that influence cancer risk and develops practical strategies for cancer prevention, screening and early detection. Before joining Baptist Health, Dr. Walsh was medical director of global development and clinical sciences in hematology at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, where his work included clinical trials focused on cancer-associated thrombosis. Previously, he spent nearly a decade at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City, advancing from assistant member to associate member working on cancer prevention in adults and children. He also served as an associate professor at Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) in New York City and associate program director of the MSKCC/WCMC Medical Genetics Fellowship Program. Dr. Walsh earned his medical degree at University College Dublin. He completed pediatric and medical genetics training at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He is certified by the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics, and the American Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Walsh has contributed to national and international efforts to advance cancer genetics and surveillance, including working groups of the American Association for Cancer Research, Clinical Genome Resource and the World Health Organization. He has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and helped develop cancer surveillance recommendations for people with hereditary cancer predisposition syndromes. Dr. Walsh takes an integrative approach to cancer prevention and care, combining inherited and acquired genetic information with environmental exposures and family history to develop personalized plans for screening, early detection and treatment. When an inherited risk is identified, he views it as an opportunity to help protect both the patient and their relatives. Dr. Walsh is fluent in English and Spanish. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family, traveling and swimming.