Champion of robotic surgery

As a part of the Mount Sinai Health System that includes seven hospitals in New York, robotic surgeon, urologist, oncologist, teacher and principal investigator Dr Ash Tiwari’s days are packed. He has introduced key innovations in robotic surgery for prostate cancer and prostatectomies by using a minimally invasive approach that minimises side-effects associated with traditional ‘open’ surgery.

While the 3-D robotic procedure magnifies and makes the operating field more visible to the surgeon, it reduces pain, blood loss, scarring and post-surgery complications.

Kanpur-born Tewari focuses on an active surveillance programme for prostate cancer patients, the inclusion of genomics in clinical practice, a prostate cancer nomogram to predict recurrence, and research programmes in genomics, immunology, immunotherapy and drug resistance. He has performed more than 5,500 robotic prostate cancer surgeries and has contributed to prostate cancer research.

Among his newer initiatives is teaming up with other experts to decipher the influence of mind body therapies such as meditation, yoga, breathing and diet on cancer progression.

Since 2006, he has been listed in New York Magazine’s Top Doctors issue every year, and has authored over 250 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and textbooks on prostate cancer and robotic surgery.