Brister joins cancer team

Published on Tuesday, September 28, 2021

By: Cynthia Wall

Dr. Kelly Brister, a colorectal surgeon, has joined the University of Mississippi Medical Center Interdisciplinary Gastrointestinal Cancer Team.

At UMMC’s Cancer Center and Research Institute she will provide services to a population with one of the lowest colorectal cancer screening rates in the nation.

Brister, a Jackson native graduated from Mississippi College and completed her medical degree and general surgery residency at UMMC. She recently completed a colorectal surgery fellowship at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla.

She becomes one of a few colorectal surgical specialists in the state and the only one on the CCRI gastrointestinal cancer team.

Dr. Shannon Orr, who heads the Division of Surgical Oncology and the CCRI gastrointestinal cancer team, said Brister’s arrival will enhance services.

“Her expertise in both benign and malignant conditions will be a huge addition to our team,” he said. 

At UMMC, she said she will focus on providing patient care with minimally invasive procedures whenever possible, helping others who encourage the state’s eligible residents to be screened and working with medical residents.

“We have so many younger patients with colorectal cancer now,” she said. She’s encouraged that the recommended age at which screening should begin recently dropped from 50 to 45 and hopes to work to provide more screening opportunities in Mississippi.