Declan Walsh

Declan Walsh, MSc, FACP, FRCP is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Palliative Medicine Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. A pioneer in the systematic study of cancer cachexia and anorexia-cachexia syndrome, Dr. Walsh has spent over three decades establishing evidence-based frameworks for nutritional assessment and pharmacologic intervention in advanced cancer. He led foundational clinical trials evaluating megestrol acetate and other appetite stimulants, and has been a principal voice in defining the clinical diagnostic criteria for cancer cachexia. Dr. Walsh helped establish modern palliative medicine as a distinct academic and clinical discipline in the United States, having founded one of the earliest dedicated palliative medicine programs in the country at the Cleveland Clinic. He has authored more than 300 publications and edited the authoritative textbook Palliative Medicine, widely used in fellowship training programs. His work on opioid pharmacology, symptom assessment tools, and nutritional interventions in advanced cancer has shaped international clinical guidelines.