Mark W. Ball, M.D.
Team Member of:
Dr. Mark Ball is an Assistant Research Physician and Staff Clinician in the Urologic Oncology Branch of the National Cancer Institute. He specializes in the surgical treatment of all urologic malignancies and performs open, laparoscopic and robotic surgery. He has a special focus on partial nephrectomy for kidney tumors, partial adrenalectomy for adrenal tumors, reoperative surgery in patients with a history of prior surgeries, and patients with multiple tumors. He works closely with a multidisciplinary team of medical oncologists, radiologists and pathologists.
1) urologic oncologic surgery, 2) renal cell carcinoma, 3) hereditary kidney cancer syndromes, 4) adrenal surgery, 5) cancer genetics
Contact Info
Center for Cancer Research
National Cancer Institute
Building 10, Room 2-5942
Bethesda, MD 20892
Ph: 240-858-3700
mark.ball@nih.gov
Dr. Ball's research focuses on how tumor genetics translate into clinical behavior. He has authored over 85 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters and has presented his work at multiple national and international meetings. He was recently a member of an international guideline committee on laparoscopic and robotic adrenal surgery.
He is currently investigating the role of somatic mutations in the development of kidney cancer metastasis. Recent work has also focused on the role of somatic mutations in the response to checkpoint blockade in renal cell carcinoma and how genomic features correlate with pathologic features across all urologic malignancies. He also studies the role of preoperative imaging and biopsy in risk stratification prior to surgery.
Selected Key Publications
- Science. [Epub ahead of print], 2018. [ Journal Article ]
- Nat Rev Urol. [Epub ahead of print], 2018. [ Journal Article ]
- Discov Med. 23(129): 379-387, 2017. [ Journal Article ]
- Eur Urol Focus. [Epub ahead of print], 2017. [ Journal Article ]
- BJU Int. 119(1): 13-21 , 2017. [ Journal Article ]
Dr. Ball is a felloship-trained urologic oncologic surgeon. He received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Centre College, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He received his M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at the James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins. He subsequently completed a Society of Urologic Oncology-accredited fellowship at the National Cancer Institute where he worked in the laboratory of W. Marston Linehan, M.D.
Dr. Ball has been the recipient of several academic honors including election to the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society, outstanding laparoscopic surgeon from the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgery, outstanding research from the Society of Urologic Oncology, recipient of a competitive LRP award from the NIH, and multiple teaching awards at Johns Hopkins from the Department of Surgery, Department of Urology and School of Medicine.