Dr. Cirocco is a native of Detroit. He attended Wayne State University (WSU) as a Merit Scholar and twice lettered in the WSU NCAA Division II football program. Dr. Cirocco graduated 'with high distinction', matriculated to the WSU School of Medicine and completed General Surgery Residency at St. John Hospital in Detroit. After completion of Colorectal Residency at St. Vincent Health Center (Erie, PA), he began his career in New York City at SUNY-Downstate Medical Center (Brooklyn, NY). He was involved in seminal work using preoperative Transrectal U/S (TRUS) to stage rectal cancer in order to inform decision-making regarding the use of preoperative (neoadjuvant) therapy as part of a multidisciplinary approach to improve rectal cancer outcomes. Combined with advanced surgical techniques, such as Total Mesorectal Excision (TME), outcomes were improved, including increased rates of disease-free survival (DFS) and the likelihood of avoiding a permanent colostomy. Dr. Cirocco brought this innovation to the Midwest (Kansas City, Detroit, Columbus), where he was able to publish results that matched tertiary referral centers and a national trial- ACOSOG Z6051 ("The case for standardization over centralization as the means to optimize rectal cancer outcomes in the US" Am J Surg 2019; 217(3):430-434). He was recruited back to academia to the Ohio State University (OSU) Wexner Medical Center/The James Cancer Hospital to create and act as Program Director for the Colon & Rectal Surgery (CRS) Residency Program at OSU (2013-2019) which received initial ACGME-accreditation in 2016 and later granted 10-year ACGME- accreditation (2018-2028).
Dr. Cirocco was then recruited to originate CRS services at other Cancer Centers, first the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center (Phoenix, AZ) followed by the Ochsner-MD Anderson Cancer Center (Covington, LA) part of the Ochsner Department of CRS, Ochsner Health.
Dr. Cirocco is a 20-year member of the Editorial Board of the American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons' (ASCRS) official organ, Diseases of the Colon & Rectum (DCR). He was the 1st recipient of the ASCRS "Victor W. Fazio Award for Editorial Excellence" in 2007 and received the Fazio award a 2nd time in 2022. He has been named a DCR "Star Reviewer" 7 years running (2017-2023). He previously served as Section Editor of the Selected Abstracts section of DCR (2007-2015) and presently is section editor of the DCR "Historical Content" section.
Dr. Cirocco received the ASCRS "Unsung Hero" award for 2020. His ASCRS service includes a term on the ASCRS Executive Council (2017-2020) and his ASCRS committee work includes past Chair of the Credentials Committee (2019-2020), the ASCRS Young Surgeons Committee (1998-2003) and the American College of Surgeons' (ACS) Committee on Young Surgeons (2002-2003) - now known as the ACS Young Fellows Association (YFA).
Dr. Cirocco is past president of 4 surgical organizations: the Kansas Chapter of the ACS, the Ohio Valley Society of CRS, the Midwest Surgical Association (MSA) and the Southwest Society of CRS. He also is the MSA representative to the ACS Board of Governors (BOG) where he was Chair of the ACS BOG Surgical Care Delivery Workgroup (2021-2023). Dr. Cirocco is a Senior Examiner for the American Board of Colon & Rectal Surgery (ABCRS). He is a former member of the ABCRS Written Examination Committee (2010-2020). He also serves on the Central Surgical Association's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee. His >150 publications include- “Outcomes of rectal resection following neoadjuvant therapy in the elderly: Can rectal cancer patients be too old for a neoadjuvant approach?" Am J Surg 2018;215(3):436-439.
