2007 NETWORKING® MAGAZINE’S DAVID AWARD HONOREE.

DWIGHT DE RISI, M.D., F.A.C.S., P.C.
Surgical Oncologist, Long Island Breast Care; Founder, Lean on Me Breast Cancer Network, Inc.

BY MAUREEN TRAXLER

Until he met Donna, with whom he affectionately
says he’s been “going steady for 46
years,” Dr. Dwight De Risi had two passions:
art and the desire to become a physician. He recalls
taking art electives in school, and continues to draw
and paint for relaxation today. He embraced the challenge
of things that looked complicated and enjoyed
working with his hands to dissect them and put them
back together. De Risi says his artistic, inquisitive
inclination was “absolutely a connection” to his “sole
dream,” to become a physician. In his surgical practice,
he looks at things three-dimensionally every day.
After completing his studies at Seton Hall
University and receiving his Doctorate in Medicine
from Georgetown University School of Medicine, De
Risi began his residency with an eye on becoming an
open-heart surgeon. But a new interest in cases of
tumors transcended his earlier desire. He began to
see that cancer patients, in particular, seemed to be in
need of not only the support of an expert doctor to
take care of them surgically, but also support on the
emotional level.

“ Cancer is such an emotionally high strung disease
that tears the heart out, destroys one’s ability to think
clearly, and has an effect on their whole environment,”
remarks De Risi. “I felt I would be able to sit
down with my patients and give them good surgical
treatment, while providing emotional support.”
After finishing his surgical training at North Shore
University Hospital, he received a graduate fellowship
degree in surgical oncology at Roswell Park
Cancer Institute in Buffalo — America’s first cancer
center, founded in 1898, and today, a comprehensive
cancer center that sets the national standards for
cancer care, research and education.

When he took his place as a physician on Long
Island, De Risi found no doctors in private practice
specializing in breast cancer surgery, and yet, he
found a volume of patients. He joined a practice and
focused on assisting its patients with breast cancer.
De Risi became the first surgically trained oncologist
doing breast cancer surgery on Long Island, and in
1999, with over 25 years experience, he started a private
practice. He is a recognized leader in his field,
introducing and popularizing important new breast
cancer surgical techniques, including mastectomy
with immediate reconstruction and partial mastectomy,
as well as other advanced procedures. Recently,
he introduced one of the newest techniques, the
MRI for breast cancer evaluation. The first physician
to use this technique over five years ago, De Risi has
been responsible for more than 6,000 patients receiving
MRIs.

“ These are the newer medicines that are going to
make all the difference in the world to treat patients
better, get better results, do less aggressive surgery
and more direct treatment that is not devastating to
the person’s body,” remarks De Risi.

De Risi’s ability to develop a rapport with his
patients led him to partner with several loyal
patients and found a nonprofit support group called
Lean on Me Breast Cancer Network. Since itsinception,
over 70 volunteers have helped guide several
thousand newly diagnosed breast cancer patients
through their journey from diagnosis to treatment.
“ Lean on Me is about keeping women informed,”
say De Risi. “The volunteers, who are mostly in postsurgical treatment themselves, help others along on a
one-to-one basis, hook into their daily events, go out
to lunch with them, and help them through difficulties,
mental and physical. They want them to realize
that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and provide
hope that there is a future.”

Lean on Me fits patients receiving chemotherapy
with free wigs and mastectomy patients with free
bras. It offers informational luncheon meetings where
patients and guest physicians dialogue about treatments
and new initiatives. It hosts wellness programs
that include nutrition workshops and therapies, like
“ laughing,” Reikki, and yoga. For those patients who
feel comfort in numbers, group therapy is available
on a weekly basis with a social worker.

“ Lean on Me has taken root and is getting the
word out,” comments De Risi. “It’s expanded to three
chapters.” Although Lean on Me has a desire to
“ keep it small,” De Risi adds, “I think in the next few
years we’ll be making a mark on the Island.”

De Risi is the head of the cancer program at North
Shore Hospital at Glen Cove, and he is a member of
the American College of Surgeons, American Medical
Association, Society of Surgical Oncology, American
Society of Clinical Oncology, and American Society of
Breast Disease. Through the years, he has received
honors from, among others, The Sass Foundation for
Medical Research, The Beth C. Tortolani Foundation,
New York College of Holistic Health and Lean on Me.
While De Risi’s ultimate professional goal is “to
help rid the world of this dreaded disease called
breast cancer,” he sees the beginning of this dream in
the education of patients. In addition, he believes the
medical industry will better define the reasons why
breast cancer occurs and develop treatments to prevent
the disease from taking root.

“ In the past, we were only able to feel cancer, see it
and look at it under a microscope,” says De Risi. “But
now we’re looking at the microbiology of it, and
we’re moving in the direction where this is going to
be a disease of the past.”

Following artistic passions, De Risi plays piano
and guitar and writes poetry and music in response
to everyday happenings, from his daughter’s engagement
to the WTC tragedy. He has experimented in
clay sculptures, and enjoys expressing his feelings in
pencil and charcoal.

If a doctor can have one inspiration and confidant,
Donna De Risi provides the balance that assures her
husband’s success. “She is my backbone,” says De
Risi, who with Donna, a North Shore Hospital secretary
who became the first Operating Room technician,
have four children, Darren, Drew, Dara and
Deirdre, and two grandchildren.

NETWORKING® January 2007