Daniel Nicastri, M.D., is the division chief of thoracic surgery at Westchester Medical Center. Dr. Nicastri joined WMCHealth in 2026 from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he was an associate professor in the Department of Thoracic Surgery since 2014.
Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve, attaining the rank of Commander. His stations and titles included Guantanamo Bay as the staff surgeon, department head of surgery in the NATO Role 3 hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan, chairman of the Cancer Committee at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, and staff surgeon at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. His military accolades included the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation, Afghanistan Campaign, Overseas Service, NATO, and Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary medals and ribbons.
His expertise and areas of interest include minimally invasive and robotic lung and esophageal surgery, antireflux and hiatal hernia surgery, and mediastinal surgery. Due to his interest in early lung cancer screening, he was part of the founding team of the IELCART (Initiative for Early Lung Cancer Research on Treatment) prospective multi-institutional study. He has written on minimally invasive (VATS) lung cancer surgery, lung cancer surgery outcomes, chest wall tumors, and tracheal surgery in both peer-reviewed journals and textbooks.
Education
- Fellowship, Minimally Invasive Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Residency, Cardiothoracic Surgery, New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center
- Residency, General Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- M.D., New York University School of Medicine
Areas of Expertise
- Lung Cancer
- Lung Nodules
- Gastrointestinal Reflux Disease and Anti-Reflux Surgery
- Esophageal Cancer
- Thymoma
Honors and Awards
- Fellow of the American College of Surgeons
- Castle-Connolly Top Doctor, 2020-2026
- American Association for Thoracic Surgery Leadership Academy Awardee, 2014
- Afghanistan Campaign Medal, 2012
- Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, 2014, 2012, 2009
- Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, 2009
Publications
- Stanisce L, Chai R, Chen S, Housman B, Nicastri D, Urken ML, Berger MH. Combined Robotic-Assisted Thoracic Surgery and Transcervical Approach for Substernal Thyroidectomy: A Sternotomy Sparing Technique. J Vis Exp. 2026 Sep 18;(235). doi: 10.3791/71635. PubMed PMID: 42762138.
- Gros L, Yip R, Ma W, Zhu J, Zhang J, Kantor S, Cai S, Kaufman AJ, Wolf AS, Hakami-Kermani A, Nicastri D, Lee DS, Song KJ, Housman B, Yankelevitz DF, Taioli E, Henschke CI, Flores RM, IELCART Investigators. Surgical outcomes and quality of life in octogenarians with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer: a prospective cohort study. Lancet Reg Health Am. 2026 Apr;56:101428. doi: 10.1016/j.lana.2026.101428. eCollection 2026 Apr. PubMed PMID: 41869001; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13000533.
- Gros L, Yip R, Flores RM, Paksashvili N, Zhang L, Lyu L, Cai S, Taioli E, Yankelevitz DF, Henschke CI, IELCART Investigators. Recurrence and Emergence of New Primary Tumors in Patients with Resected Pathological Stage 1A Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2026 Jan 1;23(1):132-142. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202501-121OC. PubMed PMID: 40737521.
- González Gutiérrez J, Yip R, Zulueta JJ, Aguayo SM, Libby DM, Pasmantier MW, Yankelevitz DF, Henschke CI, International Early Lung Cancer Action Program Investigators. Emphysema at Baseline Low-Dose CT Lung Cancer Screening Predicts Death from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Cardiovascular Disease Up to 25 Years Later. Radiology. 2025 Sep;316(3):e250949. doi: 10.1148/radiol.250949. PubMed PMID: 40923882; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12501623.
- Tuminello S, Kaufman AJ, Wolf A, Lee DS, Hakami-Kermani A, Housman B, Nicastri DG, Taioli E, Flores RM. Superior surgical tolerance and effectiveness among lung cancer patients who have never versus ever smoked: a retrospective cohort analysis using real-world clinical data. J Thorac Dis. 2025 Aug 31;17(8):5492-5498. doi: 10.21037/jtd-2025-741. Epub 2025 Aug 21. PubMed PMID: 40950905; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12433104.
- Zhang J, Yip R, Taioli E, Flores RM, Henschke CI, Yankelevitz DF, Schwartz RM, IELCART Investigators. Quality of life outcomes after robotic-assisted and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer. JTCVS Open. 2025 Apr;24:383-393. doi: 10.1016/j.xjon.2025.01.007. eCollection 2025 Apr. PubMed PMID: 40309679; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12039430.
- Emengo P, Nicastri D, Jacob J. Capsular Fibrosis as a Suggested Cause of Failure of Magnetic Sphincter Augmentation. Innovations (Phila). 2024 Jul-Aug;19(4):443-445. doi: 10.1177/15569845241266245. Epub 2024 Sep 13. PubMed PMID: 39269129.
Memberships and Affiliations
- Society of Thoracic Surgery
- American Foregut Society
- American Legion
