Dr. Petrelli is the Bank of America Endowed Medical Director of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Care Health Systems, Newark, Delaware, and Professor of Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University. He has been active on numerous advisory panels, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology Expert Panel on Colorectal Cancer Surveillance and the National Cancer Institute Colorectal Cancer Consensus Working Group. He is also an active member of a number of professional organizations, including the Society of University Surgeons and the American Surgical Association. He is Past President of the Society of Surgical Oncology (2007-2008) and present Chair of the Colorectal Committee of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project. Dr. Petrelli has authored 268 manuscripts published in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr.Petrelli earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1969 and his medical degree from Tulane Medical School in 1973. He completed his general surgery residency in San Francisco in 1978 and post doctoral training in surgical oncology at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in 1980. He spent the ensuing 21 years at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute during which time he was appointed Chair of the Division of Surgical Oncology and Director of the Surgical Oncology Fellowship Program from 1991 to 2001.