Salman Fazal, MD, a hematologist and stem cell transplant and cellular therapy expert at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has been named a 2026 Castle Connolly Top Doctor. This marks the third consecutive year he has received the prestigious designation, which is awarded to only 7 percent of licensed physicians nationwide in their respective specialties and regions.
Dr. Fazal, who has more than 16 years of experience, is recognized for providing advanced cancer care, cutting-edge therapies, and comprehensive clinical research at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. His practice focuses on complex malignant hematologic conditions, including myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), B- and T-cell lymphomas, and multiple myeloma, with a particular emphasis on high-risk, relapsed, and refractory disease.
Among the key procedures Dr. Fazal performs are 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 therapies fall short. His leadership extends to his role as the former Director of the Cell Transplantation Program at Allegheny Health Network, where he provided clinical, operational, and strategic oversight for allogeneic transplant and cellular therapy programs, including CAR-T and emerging immune effector therapies. During his tenure, he turned around a transplant program with below-par survival rates, performing nearly 200 allogeneic transplants and achieving program-level survival that met expected benchmarks. He also established a long-term follow-up clinic for transplant patients and facilitated successful FACT accreditation inspections over nine years.
Dr. Fazal's philosophy of care is rooted in compassion. "I've trained in different systems, but the most important lesson wasn't medical; it was human," he said. "Expertise matters, but compassion is what truly defines care — and it shapes how I practice every day." To enhance patient accessibility, his practice offers versatile consultation options, including in-person office appointments and virtual telemedicine video visits.
Dr. Fazal earned his medical degree from King Edward Medical College in Pakistan, completed his internal medicine residency at Rosalind Franklin University/Chicago Medical School and Griffin Hospital, a Yale School of Medicine affiliate, and finished his fellowship in hematology and oncology at Allegheny General Hospital, where he served as Chief Fellow. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology.
A dedicated educator, Dr. Fazal was named Teaching Faculty of the Year (2018–2019) by the Hematology Oncology Fellowship at Allegheny Health Network. He has served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Temple University and Drexel University and as 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. He was honored as an "MPN Hero" in 2025 and serves as a medical advisor and board member for the Western Pennsylvania/West Virginia Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Castle Connolly Top Doctors are nominated by peer physicians and selected by the physician-led Castle Connolly research team based on criteria including medical education, training, hospital appointments, and disciplinary histories. Doctors do not and cannot pay to be selected. The full list is published at castleconnolly.com and in various print and online partner publications.
