Director, City of Hope Breast Cancer Center

Vice-Chairman, Division of General and Oncologic Surgery

City of Hope National Medical Center

University of Chile Medical School

I. Benjamin Paz, MD is a nationally renowned oncology surgeon, with expertise in breast cancer, gastrointestinal and rectal cancers, and tumors involving the bone and soft tissues. Dr. Paz is highly experienced with minimally invasive, laparoscopic and robotic-assisted gastrointestinal and colorectal surgery and has developed the City of Hope Cancer Center into one of the leading centers for minimally invasive surgery in oncology in California.
Dr. Paz began working at the City of Hope Cancer Center in 1990. Since 1997, he has been a member of the City of Hope Medical Group Board of Directors and served as president from 1997- 2003. Dr. Paz has recently expanded his practice to include the Pasadena, Lancaster and Santa Clarita areas. In 2003, he was named director of the Breast Cancer Program for the Rita Cooper City of Hope Women’s Health Center and in 2004 he became the director of the Department of Surgery and Surgical Oncology. Under Dr. Paz’s leadership the surgical program has undergone an aggressive expansion and has developed patient focused multi-disciplinary clinics for the treatment of breast, colorectal, bone and soft tissue, and head and neck cancer.
Dr. Paz’s research interests focus on the early diagnosis and prevention of breast cancer and the identification of high-risk patients that will benefit from new screening strategies. He is particularly interested in developing new methods for minimally invasive surgery and cancer treatment that improve patient’s quality of life and cancer outcomes. Working with other physicians and scientists at City of Hope, he is involved in developing new methods of breast cancer detection via nipple aspirate and breast cancer prevention using natural substances.
Dr. Paz attended medical school at the University of Chile and trained in general surgery at the University of Arizona from 1985 to 1990 to obtain his board certification. He then completed a three-year fellowship in surgical oncology at City of Hope. Currently, he is a member of the Society of Surgical Oncology, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the Pacific Coast Surgical Society.