Medtronic, a global leader in healthcare technology, today announced that Dr James Porter has joined the company as chief medical officer (CMO) of Robotic Surgical Technologies and Digital Technologies within the Surgical business, which is part of the Medical Surgical Portfolio.
A practicing urologic surgeon who has performed more than 5,000 robotic-assisted procedures, Dr James Porter is a recognized leader among the global surgical community and one of the top five robotic surgery practitioners in the U.S.
He specializes in prostate, kidney cancer, and urinary constructive procedures and his contributions to the field of urologic surgery include the advancement of several groundbreaking surgical techniques employed to treat kidney tumors and testicular cancer in young men.
“I went into medicine because I want to help people and I am absolutely thrilled to now expand the impact on patients to a global scale with Medtronic, a company that I have always admired,” Dr. Porter said. “Tens of millions of patients around the world still lack access to minimally invasive surgical care and I’m excited about our opportunity at Medtronic to make a big impact for humanity. Surgery is fast evolving, due in large part to robotic and digital technologies, and HugoTM and Touch SurgeryTM are leading the way.”
As medical director of robotic surgery with Providence Swedish in Seattle, Wash., part of the larger Providence healthcare system, Dr. Porter helped build one of the highest volume, multispecialty robotic surgery programs in the U.S. He will continue to practice surgery, on a part-time basis, at Providence Swedish.
“Medtronic is privileged to welcome such a renowned physician to our business, and we look forward to Dr. Porter’s contributions as CMO of our robotic and digital divisions as we execute our strategy to scale and continually advance our capabilities to meet customer needs and positively impact patients around the world,” said Rajit Kamal, general manager and vice president of Robotic Surgical Technologies within the Surgical business, which is part of the Medical Surgical Portfolio at Medtronic.
As CMO of robotic and digital technologies within Medtronic’s Surgical business, Dr. Porter will play a key role in driving focus on patients, robotic and digital innovation, the strategic direction of clinical evidence plans, and physician and society engagements.
This week, Dr. Porter will join urologic surgeons from around the world at the European Robotic Urology Society (ERUS) conference, which takes place in Bordeaux, France, from Sept. 11-13.
The conference’s live surgery section will include 12 HugoTM cases, including a partial nephrectomy performed by Dr. Porter. A platinum sponsor of ERUS, Medtronic will also conduct in-booth demos of HugoTM and Touch SurgeryTM Ecosystem, including the recently added Live Stream technology, which securely welcomes remote participants into the live surgery.