Director, Minimally Invasive Surgery, Urology Service
I am a board-certified urologist and surgeon, and I specialize in minimally invasive, laparoscopic approaches to treating patients with urologic cancers. As a pioneer in the field of minimally invasive techniques for urological cancers, I joined the Urology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in 2002 to create and lead Urology’s minimally invasive team.
I am full trained in traditional, "open surgery," but became interested in treating patients with laparoscopic surgery in the early 1990s while in France, first at the University of Nantes and later at the Institut Mutualiste Montsouris in Paris. While at the Institut, my colleagues and I pioneered the laparoscopic techniques used to treat urological cancers, in particular kidney and prostate cancers, and I have since perfected the laparoscopic techniques used to treat localized prostate cancer. Our group also evaluated the use of robotic assistance for prostate cancer, an approach now currently used in the United States.
My colleagues at Memorial Sloan-Kettering and I are currently developing a program to improve surgical treatment for prostate, kidney and bladder cancer patients who could benefit from a less invasive surgical approach such as laparoscopy with or without robotic assistance.
My clinical research is mainly focused on the pathology and treatment of localized prostate cancer, from the initial stages of the disease where active-surveillance is a treatment option to more advanced stages where surgery is used as part of a multidisciplinary treatment approach. For patients with locally advanced or aggressive prostate cancer, we are evaluating how removing lymph nodes that could harbor micrometastasis might play an important role in their long-term survival.
I have published more than 100 papers describing my research and surgical experience, including an analysis of the factors that play a role in improving the effectiveness of laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (surgery to remove the prostate) to control cancer and preserve urinary and sexual function.
I am an editor for European Urology and assistant editor for the Journal of Urology, the Journal of EndoUrology, and the Journal of Robotic Surgery. I also serve on the advisory board of Nature Clinical Practice Urology and recently edited a textbook titled Laparoscopic Techniques in Uro-Oncology (2009). I teach uro-oncology treatment approaches to other doctors in both North America and Europe.
Appointments for New Patients
646-497-9068
Phone
646-422-4406
Education
MD, Faculty of Medicine, University of
Nantes (France)
Residencies
University Hospitals of Nantes and Paris
Fellowships
University of Nantes
Board Certifications
General Surgery (France); Urology (France)
Clinical Expertise
Prostate Cancer; Kidney Cancer; Robotic and Minimally Invasive Surgery
