Speaker Bio/Research Focus Lecture Topics / (Session)
chaikof

Elliot L. Chaikof, MD, PhD

 Elliot Chaikof is Chairman of the Roberta and Stephen R. Weiner Department of Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a member of the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.Dr. Chaikof will outline his vision for the development of a Health Services Research program within the Department of Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with promotion of collaboration and mentoring with colleagues throughout the Harvard system. Introduction and overview of symposium
christensen

Henrik Christensen, PhD

 Henrik Christensen is Director of Georgia Tech’s Robotics Program and holds the KUKA Chair in Robotics. Christensen’s main research interests include human centered robotics, sensory/data fusion, and systems integration. Dr. Christensen has contributed over 250 publications within robotics, vision, and artificial intelligence, including nine books and is currently serving on the editorial board of five journals in robotics and AI. Dr. Christensen will discuss a vision for medical robotics in the US and current efforts to define a national network in robotics. Introduction and overview of symposium
thorpe

Charles Thorpe

 Chuck Thorpe is the Assistant Director for Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.He is on loan from Carnegie Mellon University, where he is Professor of Robotics, and has been the Director of The Robotics Institute and Dean of Carnegie Mellon Qatar. His technical expertise is in intelligent vehicles, ranging from automated military vehicles in rough terrain to crash-avoidance technologies for highway driving. Robotics, Science, and Society: Views from Washington
kuchenbecker

Katherine J. Kuchenbecker

 Katherine J. Kuchenbecker is the Skirkanich Assistant Professor of Innovation Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Kuchenbecker’s research leverages scientific knowledge about the human sense of touch to create haptic interfaces that enable a user to interact with virtual objects and distant environments as though they were real and within reach. The key insight in this area has been that the high-frequency accelerations of a hand-held tool convey rich tactile information that is necessary to make the interaction feel real, though this type of feedback has typically been omitted from haptic simulations and teleoperation systems. This work has led to the realization that autonomous robots can also benefit from attending to the dynamic tactile cues that occur as they manipulate objects in their environment. Haptic Systems in Surgical RoboticsSession 1: Emerging Technologies in Surgical Robotics(8:30 – 10:30 AM)
choset

Howie Choset

 Howie Choset is a Professor of Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. Motivated by applications in confined spaces, Choset has created a comprehensive program in snake robots, which has led to basic research in mechanism design, path planning, motion planning, and estimation. These research topics are important because once the robot is built (design), it must decide where to go (path planning), determine how to get there (motion planning), and use feedback to close the loop (estimation). Choset has directly applied this body of work to challenging and strategically significant problems in diverse areas such as surgery, manufacturing, infrastructure inspection, and search and rescue.In 2005, MIT Press published a textbook, lead authored by Choset, entitled “Principles of Robot Motion.” Choset co-founded a company called Cardiorobotics which makes a small surgical snake robot for minimally invasive surgery. Merging Laparoscopic and Robotic SurgerySession 1: Emerging Technologies in Surgical Robotics(8:30 – 10:30 AM)
whitesides

George M. Whitesides

 George M. Whitesides is the Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor at Harvard University, Department of Chemistry. Whitesides’ current research interests include “physical and organic chemistry, materials science, biophysics, complexity, surface science, microfluidics, self-assembly, micro- and nanotechnology, science for developing economies, origin of life, and cell-surface biochemistry. Whitesides is the author of more than 950 scientific articles and is listed as an inventor on more than 50 patents; he has co-founded over 12 companies. Soft RoboticsSession 1: Emerging Technologies in Surgical Robotics(8:30 – 10:30 AM)
dumanian

Greg Dumanian

 Dr. Dumanian combines excellent training with a caring and attentive bedside manner. He is Chief and Program Director of the Division of Plastic Surgery at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. He is professor of surgery, with adjunct appointments as professor in neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery. He lectures nationally on repair of the abdominal wall.His groundbreaking work on the bionic arm procedure for arm amputees was featured on the cover of the prestigious journal Lancet and in the New Yorker Magazine. His specialties include state of the art reconstructive breast surgery after cancer treatment (DIEP flaps), aesthetic surgery, abdominal wall reconstruction, peripheral nerve surgery, hand surgery, and reconstructive microsurgery. In 2005 he was the co-recipient with Neural Engineering center for Artificial limbs of the DaVinci Award from Ford Motor Co. The Myoelectric Prosthetic InterfaceSession 2: Human-Machine Systems
(10:45 AM – 12:45 PM)
hogan

Neville Hogan

 Neville Hogan is Sun Jae Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Director of the Newman Laboratory for Biomechanics and Human Rehabilitation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a co-founder of Interactive Motion Technologies, Inc., and a board member of Advanced Mechanical Technologies, Inc.Professor Hogan’s research is broad and multi-disciplinary, extending from biology to engineering—it has made significant contributions to motor neuroscience, rehabilitation engineering and robotics—but its focus converges on an emerging class of machines designed to cooperate physically with humans. Recent work pioneered the creation of robots sufficiently gentle to provide physiotherapy to frail and elderly patients recovering from neurological injury such as stroke, a novel therapy that has
already proven its clinical significance.		 Human Performance Enhancement TechnologiesSession 2: Human-Machine Systems
(10:45 AM – 12:45 PM)
hager

Gregory D. Hager

 Gregory D. Hager is the Chairman, Department of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University.Professor Hager’s principal areas of research are computer vision and robotics, and his application interests are in the area of medical devices and human-machine systems. He directs the Computational Interaction and Robotics Lab (CIRL) in the Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics. He was the Deputy Director of the NSF Engineering Research Center for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology (CISST). He is a member of the Computing Community Consortium Council and the board of the International Federation of Robotics Research. He was elected a Fellow of the IEEE in 2006 for his contributions to computer vision and robotics. The Language of Surgical RoboticsSession 3: Robotics in Practice: Realizing Clinically Meaningful Advances (1:30 – 3:30 PM)
zeh

Herbert J. Zeh

 Herbert J. Zeh is co-director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Pancreatic Cancer Center. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1989 with his B.S. in biology and philosophy. He then moved on to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine where he received his MD in 1994. His post-graduate education consists of an internship and a Jr. assistant surgery residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, a surgery oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, and a senior and chief residency and a Society of Surgical Oncology fellowship at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. His recent publication entitled Outcomes After Robot-Assisted Pancreaticoduodenectomy for Periampullary Lesions. Zeh HJ, Zureikat AH, Secrest A, Dauoudi M, Bartlett D, Moser AJ. Ann Surg Oncol. 2011 Sep 24 is an example of his work in the robotic surgery area. Advanced Techniques in GI Robotic SurgerySession 3: Robotics in Practice: Realizing Clinically Meaningful Advances (1:30 – 3:30 PM)
su

Li-Ming Su

 Li-Ming Su is the David A. Cofrin Professor of Urology, Associate Chairman of Clinical Affairs Chief, and Division of Robotic & Minimally Invasive Urologic Surgery Department of Urology at the University of Florida College of Medicine. He completed his urology residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell University Medical College and fellowship training in endourology (specializing in laparoscopy, robotics and stone disease) at Johns Hopkins. His main clinical interests include minimally invasive techniques for the treatment of kidney cancer and prostate cancer. His areas of surgical specialty include laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, laparoscopic radical nephrectomy, nerve-sparing robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, laparoscopic pyeloplasty, retroperitoneal lymph node dissection and donor nephrectomy. Image-Guided Robotic SurgerySession 3: Robotics in Practice: Realizing Clinically Meaningful Advances (1:30 – 3:30 PM)