Mark W. Ball MD

Mark Ball, M.D., is a fellowship-trained urologic oncologist in the Urologic Oncology Branch of the National Cancer Institute. He received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Centre College, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He received his M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at the James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins. After residency, he came to the National Cancer Institute as a clinical fellow in a Society of Urologic Oncology-accredited urologic oncology fellowship where he worked in the laboratory of W. Marston Linehan.

Dr. Ball has been the recipient of several academic honors including election to the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society, outstanding laparoscopic surgeon from the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgery, outstanding research from the Society of Urologic Oncology, recipient of an LRP award from the NIH, and multiple teaching awards at Johns Hopkins from the Department of Surgery, Department of Urology and School of Medicine.

Dr. Ball's research focuses on how tumor genetics translate into clinical behavior. He has authored over 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters and has presented his work at multiple national and international meetings. He was recently a member of an international guideline committee on laparoscopic and robotic adrenal surgery.

He is currently investigating the role of somatic mutations in the development of kidney cancer metastasis. Recent work has also focused on the role of somatic mutations in the response to checkpoint blockade in renal cell carcinoma and how genomic features correlate with pathologic features across all urologic malignancies. He also studies the role of preoperative imaging and biopsy in risk stratification prior to surgery.

Dr. Ball maintains a busy clinical practice, specializing in the surgical treatment of all urologic malignancies and performs robotic, laparoscopic and open surgery. He has a special focus on complex partial nephrectomy for kidney tumors, partial adrenalectomy for adrenal tumors, and reoperative surgery in patients with a history of prior surgeries.