Dr. Cortese is a Staff Physician and Assistant Professor of Oncology for both the Department of Medicine (Lymphoma section) and the Department of Cancer Genetics & Genomics at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. His clinical and research work is focused on CLL/SLL and B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas, and is actively leading clinical trials (including novel cellular and targeted therapies). He also is leading multidisciplinary translational research efforts investigating the mechanisms of transformation from low to high-grade B-cell lymphomas as well as the mechanisms of therapeutic resistance and disease relapse, in an effort to optimize treatments and provide more detailed prognostic information for providers and patients.

Dr. Cortese was born, raised and educated in Upstate New York and completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and hematology/oncology fellowship at Cleveland Clinic before moving back to New York in his current role at Roswell Park.