Omar Barakat, MD, FRCS

Dr. Omar Barakat is a general surgeon specializing in benign and malignant diseases of the liver, bile duct, gallbladder, and pancreas. He is an Associate Professor of Surgery - Division of Surgical Oncology at Baylor College of Medicine and Medical Director of the Neuroendocrine Tumor Program at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center. 

Dr. Barakat’s clinical interests include: malignant hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases, liver and pancreas surgery; upper gastrointestinal surgery; neuroendocrine tumors; gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST); and minimally invasive surgery. 

Dr. Barakat has developed new surgical techniques to minimize the complication rate and blood loss following pancreatic and liver surgeries. He utilizes image-guided therapies, such as radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, irreversible electroporation (NanoKnife system), trans-arterial chemotherapy, and selective internal radiotherapy (SIRT) with Yttrium-90 microspheres, to treat liver tumors while minimizing trauma to the patients. Dr. Barakat's clinical and research interests also include the study of neuroendocrine tumors; and the development of off-the-shelf bio-artificial liver organs that can be suitable for liver transplantation in patients with end-stage liver disease. 

Dr. Barakat received his medical degree from Aleppo University Medical School in Aleppo, Syria. He completed a residency in general surgery at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia and a Fellowship in cardiovascular surgery research at State University of New York - Buffalo. He also completed clinical fellowships in liver transplantation at The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston; and in heart transplantation and mechanical assist devices aat the Texas Heart Institute. He continued his practice in liver and pancreatic surgery at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle Upon-Tyne, United Kingdom, where he treated complex and rare tumors of the liver, bile duct, and pancreas. Dr. Barakat is board-certified by the Royal College of Surgeons (Ed), United Kingdom, where he is also a Fellow.