Salman Fazal, MD, has been named a 2026 Castle Connolly Top Doctor, marking the third consecutive year he has received this prestigious designation. Only 7 percent of the nation's licensed physicians are selected annually as Castle Connolly Top Doctors for their specialties in their regions. Dr. Fazal, a hematologist and stem cell transplant and cellular therapy expert with UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, is recognized for providing advanced cancer care, cutting-edge therapies, and comprehensive clinical research at its Harrisburg location.
Dr. Fazal's recognition underscores the importance of compassionate care in oncology. "I've trained in different systems, but the most important lesson wasn't medical; it was human," he stated. "Expertise matters, but compassion is what truly defines care — and it shapes how I practice every day." His approach integrates advanced medical interventions with a patient-first philosophy, which has proven critical in treating complex hematologic malignancies.
Dr. Fazal evaluates and treats a variety of complex conditions, including myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), B- and T-cell lymphomas, and multiple myeloma, with a specific emphasis on high-risk, relapsed, and refractory disease. Key procedures he performs include hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, cellular therapies, bispecific antibodies, and innovative targeted treatments. He leads the bispecific therapy program in Central Pennsylvania, offering patients options when conventional therapy falls short.
His leadership extends beyond clinical practice. As the former Director of the Cell Transplantation Program at Allegheny Health Network, he provided strategic oversight for allogeneic transplant and cellular therapy programs, including CAR-T and emerging immune effector therapies. He took over a transplant program with subpar survival rates and led its turnaround, performing nearly 200 allogeneic transplants with program-level survival meeting expected benchmarks. He also established a dedicated long-term follow-up clinic for transplant patients with access to graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) clinical trials and led successful FACT accreditation inspections over nine years.
To enhance patient accessibility, Dr. Fazal's practice offers versatile consultation options, including both in-person office appointments and virtual telemedicine video visits, ensuring that patients can receive expert care regardless of location.
Dr. Fazal's contributions to medical education and research are equally notable. He was named Teaching Faculty of the Year (2018–2019) by the Hematology Oncology Fellowship at Allegheny Health Network, reflecting his commitment to training the next generation of physicians. He has served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Temple University and Drexel University and has been a principal investigator on numerous phase II and phase III clinical trials. His research on transplantation outcomes, graft-versus-host disease, and hematologic malignancies has been published in leading medical journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, Blood, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Top Doctors are nominated by peer physicians and selected by the physician-led Castle Connolly research team. Castle Connolly publishes its Top Doctors list at castleconnolly.com and in various print and online partner publications. Nominations are open to all board-certified MDs, DOs, and DPMs, with honorees chosen based on criteria including medical education, training, hospital appointments, and disciplinary histories. Doctors do not and cannot pay to be selected as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor.
