MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – David R. Jones, M.D., a graduate of the West Virginia University School of Medicine Class of 1989, will be recognized as the School’s 2013 Distinguished Alumnus during Alumni Weekend, Sept. 27 and 28.

Dr. Jones is an internationally known clinician and researcher with specialty interests in lung and esophageal cancer, minimally invasive surgery, video-assisted thoracic surgery, diseases of the thymus and other surgical diseases of the chest.

His research laboratory focuses on lung and esophageal cancer and is funded by the National Cancer Institute, Department of Defense, American Cancer Society and the American Association for Cancer Research, among others.

Jones has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than 24 funded grants, and he has published more than165 papers in scientific and professional journals on topics related to his research and specialty interests. These include publications such as The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Oncogene, Cancer Research, Journal of Biologic Chemistry and Molecular Cell. He has made more than 250 presentations on thoracic surgery in the U.S. and internationally.

After graduating from the WVU School of Medicine, Jones completed his surgical internship and general surgery residency at WVU and a thoracic surgery residency at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1998.

Since that time, he has been on the faculty of UNC Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia. He is currently chief of thoracic surgery and co-director of the thoracic oncology program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York, N.Y.

Jones is board certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery. He is the recipient of many honors and awards, including America’s Top Doctor Award and America’s Top Cancer Doctors Award (2005-2012).

He holds office on numerous local, state and national committees, including, but not limited to, American Association for Thoracic Surgery, Society of Thoracic Surgeons; American College of Surgeons; Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and Education; Southern Thoracic Surgical Association; American College of Surgeons; and the Halsted Society. He currently is a director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and is a permanent member of the National Cancer Institute Tumor, Progression and Metastasis study section.

The School of Medicine’s Alumni Weekend will kick off at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 27 with a reception at Lakeview Golf Resort and Spa in Morgantown. Jones will be presented with the Distinguished Alumnus Award at the Alumni Banquet, which begins at 7:30.

On Sept. 28, Jones will be one of two speakers featured at the Pat A. Tuckwiller Memorial Seminar, which will be held from 8 to 10 a.m. at Lakeview. He will present “Update on Lung Cancer: Screening, Surgery, and Targeted Therapy.”

Jennifer Cheng, D.O., assistant professor in the WVU Department of Medicine Section of Endocrinology, will present “Diabetes: Screening, Diagnosis and Management.”

Alumni Weekend will conclude with a reunion dinner for graduates of WVU’s two-year medical school. It will begin at 6 p.m. at Lakeview.