Marcel R.M. van den Brink, MD, PhD

Medical Oncologist

Titles

Head, Division of Hematologic Malignancies; Alan N. Houghton Chair

Clinical Expertise

Blood & Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation

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New Patient Appointments

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Mon–Fri,
Accepted Insurance Providers

Dr. van den Brink accepts the following list of insurance providers. Select your insurance provider to see more details.

Aetna

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider with Aetna HMO, POS, and PPO plans. Aetna does not include us in any of the plans you can purchase through the insurance exchanges or through Medicare. Please ask your insurance if you need a one-time referral. MSK has an agreement with the Aetna Transplant Program for all Aetna's commercial products.

Blue Distinction Center

Memorial Sloan Kettering is a designated Blue Distinction Center for bone marrow transplant and CAR-T.

Health Insurance Exchanges

We understand that there may be many complexities involved with insurance coverage purchased through the health exchange network of the Affordable Care Act. We’re here to help. If you have questions about how your care will be covered by an insurance provider, or need help navigating a change in coverage, please call us at 646-227-3378; if you are not a resident of New York, you can call us at 866-248-1274. Our team is here to listen to your concerns and assist you in any way we can. We want our care to be as accessible and affordable for as many people as possible.

CIGNA

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider with CIGNA's HMO, POS, and PPO plans. CIGNA does not include us in any of the plans you can buy through the insurance exchanges.

  • If you are a New York State resident: Please ask your insurance if you need a one-time referral.
  • If you live outside of New York State: Please ask your insurance if you have in-network access to Memorial Sloan Kettering.
EmblemHealth (including GHI, HIP, ConnectiCare, and Vytra)

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider with EmblemHealth’s PPO, EPO, POS, HMO plans. EmblemHealth includes GHI, HIP, Vytra, and ConnecticCare (in NYS Only). You must bring a referral from your Emblem primary care doctor to your first appointment. In-network participation exceptions include:

  • Emblem’s HIP Commercial Millennium, Select Care and Enhanced Care Prime networks is not in-network with Memorial Sloan Kettering.
  • Please call Emblem to confirm if your specific plan is in-network.

For information regarding Memorial Sloan Kettering’s participation with Emblem’s Medicare Advantage Plans, please refer to the Medicare & Medicaid page

Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider with Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield (Wellpoint) of New York Indemnity, HMO, EPO, PPO, POS and Medicare Advantage plans, with the following exceptions:

  • Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield does not include us in any of the plans you can buy through the insurance exchanges.
  • Please call Empire BCBS to confirm if your specific plan is in-network with Memorial Sloan Kettering.
HealthFirst

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider with HealthFirst’s commercial products; these commercial products are not purchased on the insurance exchanges.

HealthSmart

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider with HealthSmart’s Accel, HSPC, and HPO networks.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey

For our NJ locations, Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider with most Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey plans for individuals, families, and small businesses. Horizon members with Blue Card Access (there would be a suitcase logo on the front of the card) may have access to our NY locations.  Please call Horizon to confirm if your plan is in-network in NY. 

Humana

Memorial Sloan Kettering is a designated Center of Excellence by Humana.

Interlink Health Services

Memorial Sloan Kettering is a designated Center of Excellence by Interlink Health Services.

Lifetrac

Memorial Sloan Kettering is a designated Center of Excellence by Lifetrac.

MagnaCare

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider for all MagnaCare health plans except those products you can buy through the insurance exchanges.

Medicare & Medicaid

For information about Medicare and Medicaid, please visit this page

Multiplan/Beech Street/PHCS

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider with some Multiplan/Beech Street/PHCS plans. Contact your insurance carrier to find out if your plan provides in-network access to Memorial Sloan Kettering.

Memorial Sloan Kettering is a designated Center of Excellence by Multiplan.

Multiple Insurance Plans

If you are covered by more than one insurance plan, you will want to determine your benefits from both plans. First, you need to determine which one is your primary insurance provider by contacting your employee benefits office or your insurance carriers. After you find out which is your primary insurance provider, you should then contact your insurance carrier to determine if you have access to Memorial Sloan Kettering.

MVP

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider with some MVP plans. Contact your insurance carrier to find out if your plan provides in-network access to Memorial Sloan Kettering.

New York State Employee Health Insurance Plan (Empire Plan)

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider for New York State employees who have enrolled in UnitedHealthcare's Cancer Resource Services. If you have the Empire Plan, you should call Cancer Resources Services at 866-936-6002 to verify and enroll in this coverage.

Oscar

Memorial Sloan Kettering is in-network with Oscar’s Circle Plus Network, a part of its Small Group Broad line that is offered only to select small business groups. Oscar does not include Memorial Sloan Kettering as an in-network provider for any of its individual plans. Please confirm eligibility with your insurance carrier. 

Other Blue Cross Blue Shield plans

Most Blue Cross Blue Shield plans include Memorial Sloan Kettering as an in-network provider. Contact your insurance company to confirm if Memorial Sloan Kettering is in-network.

Other Coverage Options

We have agreements with several insurance companies that may provide additional coverage for cancer patients. These benefit programs include:

  • AXA Assistance USA
  • Beech Street
  • Integrated Health Plans
  • National Health Administrators
  • National Preferred Provider Network
  • UnitedHealthcare's Cancer Resource Services
  • United Resource Network
  • Veterans Choice Program
Oxford

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider with Oxford’s Freedom and Liberty plans as well as the Metro Plan (which is only offered to small business groups and no longer offered as individual plans). Please confirm with your insurance if you need a one-time referral. Note: Oxford’s Medicare Managed Care plan — Secure Horizon — does not include Memorial Sloan Kettering as an in-network provider. Oxford does not include us in any of the plans you can buy through the insurance exchanges.

World Trade Center Health Program

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider with the World Trade Center Health Program.

QualCare

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider with QualCare's PPO and HMO/POS network.

Specialty Care Management

Memorial Sloan Kettering is a designated Center of Excellence by Specialty Care Management.

TRICARE

Hospital and physician services may be covered by TRICARE. Please call your TRICARE plan to confirm coverage at Memorial Sloan Kettering.

UnitedHealthcare

Memorial Sloan Kettering is an in-network provider with UnitedHealthCare's HMO, POS, and PPO plans. Please confirm with your insurance if a one-time referral is needed.

UnitedHealthCare's Medicare Managed Care plan does not include Memorial Sloan Kettering as an in-network provider.

United does not include us in any of the plans you can buy through the insurance exchanges.

Memorial Sloan Kettering is a designated Center of Excellence by UnitedHealthcare.

Contact and Location

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Find a Convenient Location

Memorial Sloan Kettering has locations throughout New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, and Westchester. These locations offer many services, including screening, chemotherapy, and medical testing.

See all locations

About Me

Education

MD, University of Leiden

Residencies

Internal Medicine - Leiden University Hospital; Internal Medicine - Duke University Medical Center

Fellowships

Hematology/Oncology - Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Medicine - Harvard Medical School; Pediatric Oncology/Immunology - Dana Farber Cancer Institute

Board Certifications

Medical Oncology

I am a medical oncologist and physician-scientist who specializes in bone marrow transplants as a therapy for blood cancers such as leukemia. With this treatment, also called a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, chemotherapy and radiation are used to kill the cancer in the patient’s blood and bone marrow. Then new marrow or blood stem cells are given to help healthy blood cells grow back.  

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In the clinic, I take care of patients undergoing these transplants. In the laboratory, I study questions related to this treatment approach and to immunotherapy for cancer in general.

My research is currently focused on two areas. I’m studying the role that microorganisms living in the intestine (called the microbiota) play in patients undergoing bone marrow transplants or those receiving cancer immunotherapy. I’m also developing strategies to help the body rebuild the immune system after bone marrow transplantation. The particular focus of this work is in enhancing the activity of the thymus, a small organ in the chest that makes certain types of immune cells.

My research in both of these areas is being translated into clinical trials that are currently ongoing at MSK.

From 2004 to 2008, I served as Chief Attending of the Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Service. I have been Head of the Division of Hematologic Oncology at MSK since 2008. I’m also a professor of Medicine and Immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College.

In 2010, I started the Susan and Peter Solomon Divisional Genomics Program, which focuses on targeted therapy approaches for patients with blood cancers such as leukemia. This program was instrumental in the development of the first genomic profiling test for hematological malignancies called FoundationOne™ Heme.

Awards and Honors

  • Physician Scientist Award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • Amy Strelzer Manasevit Scholar Award from the National Marrow Donor Program
  • Damon Runyon Scholar Award of the Cancer Research Fund
  • Scholarship from the V Foundation for Cancer Research
  • Elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2004)
  • Association of American Physicians (2013)
  • Immunology Letters Lecture Award from the European Federation of Immunological Societies (2014)
  • Delete Blood Cancer Award (2015)
  • Till and McCulloch Lectureship Award from the Stem Cell Network (2015)

Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

See all Medicine doctors

See all Bone Marrow Transplant Service doctors

Clinical Trials

Smiling doctors in the lab
Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

Search clinical trials

Research and Publications

View Dr. van den Brink's Lab

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. van den Brink’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

See all on PubMed

Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Marcel R.M. van den Brink discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • Ceramedix
    Provision of Services
  • DKMS
    Fiduciary Role/Position; Provision of Services
  • Da Volterra
    Provision of Services
  • Garuda Therapeutics
    Provision of Services
  • GlaxoSmithKline
    Provision of Services
  • Juno Therapeutics
    Intellectual Property Rights
  • King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre
    Provision of Services
  • LyGenesis, Inc.
    Provision of Services
  • MJH Life Sciences
    Provision of Services
  • Notch Therapeutics
    Ownership / Equity Interests; Provision of Services
  • Pluto Immunotherapeutics
    Ownership / Equity Interests; Provision of Services (uncompensated)
  • Priothera Limited
    Provision of Services
  • Rheos Medicines, Inc
    Provision of Services
  • Seres Therapeutics
    Intellectual Property Rights; Ownership / Equity Interests; Provision of Services
  • Smart Immune SAS
    Provision of Services (uncompensated)
  • WindMIL Therapeutics, Inc.
    Provision of Services

If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.


This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2020 through disclosure submission in spring 2021). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at ecoi@mskcc.org.


View all disclosures