Dr. Jonathan Sorger

Friday, January 11, 2019
9:30-10:20 am
Bldg. 320, Room 105

This seminar is open to the public. Students in ME 328 and CS/ME 571 are required to attend.

Seminar Topic: Opportunities and Challenges for Commercial Surgical Robotics

While not the first FDA-approved surgical robot, the da Vinci Surgical System has demonstrated that there is a place for robotic-assisted surgery in healthcare systems worldwide. Advocates of the technology tout its ability to improve surgical outcomes by making complex procedures less invasive while detractors have questioned the cost and safety profile. By the end of this talk you should better understand the history of Intuitive, some of the challenges that medical device companies face as they transition from startups to mid-sized entities, as well as opportunities for innovation in the space.

Speaker Bio

Jonathan Sorger earned a B.S. in bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego, in addition to the Ph.D. and MBA degrees from Johns Hopkins University. He helped develop and teach the first-year bioengineering Ph.D. program at Stanford University and was involved in a startup before moving to Varian Medical Systems, where he was responsible for Varian's integration of molecular medicine into radiation therapy. At Intuitive Surgical, Sorger is Vice President of Research, and he leads the development of next-generation surgical robotic platforms.