Dr. Thomas Tarter, urologic oncologist, joined Cancer Care Specialists in January 2012 and oversees Urologic Oncology services located in the Cancer Care Center of Decatur. He is primarily seeing patients within the CCSCI Urologic Oncology department and will also provide surgical services at Decatur Memorial Hospital. Dr. Tarter is a national leader in the treatment of urologic cancer and he is also recognized by his peers as an expert in urologic cancer surgery, including robotic surgery.

Dr. Tarter received a Ph.D. in Anatomy from Oregon Health Sciences University College of Medicine in 1983 and completed a fellowship in Reproductive Immunology at the Population Council Center for Biomedical Research at the prestigious Rockefeller University in 1986. Dr. Tarter received his M.D. degree from Albany Medical College in Albany, New York, in 1990. He also completed an internship and residency in General Surgery (1992) and a residency in Urology (1996) at Los Angeles County Hospital University of Southern California Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Before joining CCSCI, Dr. Tarter served as an Associate Professor for the SIU School of Medicine, where he also served as Director of Urologic Oncology. He has received numerous awards including election to Alpha Omega Alpha, eta chapter, and “Teacher of the Year” in 2005 and 2006. He holds membership with the American Urological Association and American College of Surgeons Oncology Group. In 2007, he was elected to the Society of Urologic Oncology in recognition of outstanding contributions and acknowledged concentration of study in the field of urologic cancer. Dr. Tarter has authored more than forty articles and abstracts and is renowned for giving numerous presentations on various aspects of Urologic Oncology throughout the country. He also serves as an active National Cancer Institute (NCI) investigator.