Research Scientist
Department of Surgical Oncology
Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Sergei Kurenov joined the staff of Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) in 2009 as a research scientist in the Department of Surgical Oncology.

Mr. Kurenov came to RPCI from the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, where he served as a computer simulation technical expert for the Surgical Simulation Research Group in the department of Surgery.

Mr. Kurenov earned his Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at the Moscow Aviation Institute, Moscow, Russia in 1984. An expert in aviation engineering, he developed flight simulators for pilot training and autopilot systems.

Mr. Kurenov’s research interests include the development and use of surgical simulators and virtual reality technologies for surgical education in order to enhance the learning process. He also worked toward the development a dynamic deformable model of anatomical organs based on reconstructed 3d CT and MRI images from real patients.

He also participated with 360Ed, Inc. in the development of Burn Center game program – the federally funded project to create the fast-paced training program to simulate the real-life emergency events of a mass casualty disaster scenario as well as a hospital environment in which multiple burn patients must be cared for over the course of a resuscitation period.  The game was awarded as the Best Game and the Best Small Business Game in the Third Annual I/ITSEC Serious Games Showcase & Challenge, 2008.

Mr. Kurenov has developed hardware and software programs; he holds and has patents pending in the US and internationally.

Publications 

• Kurenov, S., Cance, W., Noel, B., Mozingo, D. Game-Based Mass Casualty Burn Training. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics Volume 142, 2009 Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 17: NextMed by Design ISBN 978-1-58603-964-6. Vol. 142, 2009, 145-147.
• Kurenov, S., Punak, S., Peters, J., Lee, C., Cendan, J. Development and Initial Validation of a Virtual Reality Haptically Augmented Surgical Knot-Tying Trainer for the Autosuture™ ENDO STITCH™ Instrument. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics Volume 142, 2009 Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 17: NextMed by Design ISBN 978-1-58603-964-6. Vol. 142, 2009, 142-144.
• Myles, Yeo, Kim, Cendan, Kurenov, Peters. Interactive Peritoneum in a Haptic Surgery Illustration Environment. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics Volume 142, 2009 Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 17: NextMed by Design ISBN 978-1-58603-964-6. Vol. 142, 2009, 221-223.
• Punak, Kim, Myles, Cendan, Kurenov, Peters. Fatty Tissue in a Haptic Illustration Environment. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics Volume 132, 2008 Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 16: NextMed by Design ISBN 978-1-58603-822-9. Vol. 132, 2008, 384-386.
• George Aslanidi, Vadim Kroutov, Glenn Philipsberg, Kenneth Lamb, Martha Campbell-Thompson, Glenn A. Walter, Sergei Kurenov, J. Ignacio Aguirre, Pernille Keller, Kurt Hankenson, Ormond A. MacDougald and Sergei Zolotukhin Ectopic expression of Wnt10b decreases adiposity and improves glucose homeostasis in obese rats; Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 293: 726-736, 2007. First published June 19, 2007; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00248.2007 0193-1849/07.
• Kim,M., Tianyun Ni, Cendan, J., Kurenov, S., and Peters, J., A Haptic-enabled Toolkit for Illustration of Procedures in Surgery (TIPS). Medicine Meets Virtual Reality (MMVR) 15, Feb 6-9 2007, Long Beach,CA. IOS Press, Amsterdam, Studies in Health Technology and Informatics (SHTI), Vol.125, pp 209–213.
• Kurenov, S., Kim, M., Punak, S., Peters, J., Cendan, J., SIMULATION for TRAINING with the AUTOSUTURE™ ENDO STITCH™ DEVICE. Surgical Innovation. Vol.13, Number 4, December 2006, 283-287.
• Kim, M., Punak, S., Cendan, J., Kurenov, S., and Peters, J. Exploiting graphics hardware for haptic authoring. Medicine Meets Virtual Reality (MMVR) 14, Jan 25-27 2006, Long Beach,CA, IOS Press, Amsterdam, Studies in Health Technology and Informatics (SHTI), Vol.119, pp 255–260.
• Cendan J., Kim, M., Kurenov, S., Peters, J., Developing a Multimedia Environment for Customized Teaching of Adrenalectomy Surgical Procedure,Surg Endosc (2006). DOI: 10.1007/s00464-006-9119-2. Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006.

Articles in the news

• Brindise, Jennifer. “Back to the (Near) Future” Florida Physician magazine; Fall 2008.
• “Best Serious Game/ Small Business Game” Serious Games Showcase and Challenge, 2008. 
• Knoll, Melissa. “Game on, Doc; Video game preps for burn disasters”. Jacksonville magazine; November 2008, pp 40-42. 
• Brindise, Jennifer. “UF’s burn center tests virtual reality disaster training” University of Florida Healh Science Center News, 09/20/2008.
• Fridl Ross, Melanie. “Stitch in Time”, Explore magazine; Fall 2005 Volume 10, Issue 3, pp 26 - 31. 
  

Presentations

• Development and Initial Validation of a Virtual Reality Haptically Augmented Surgical Knot-Tying Trainer for the Autosuture™ ENDO STITCH™ Instrument. Poster presentation at 17th Annual Medicine Meets Virtual Reality (MMVR17) Conference, January 19 –22, 2009, Long Beach, California.
• Game-Based Mass Casualty Burn Training. Poster presentation at 17th Annual Medicine Meets Virtual Reality (MMVR17) Conference, January 19 –22, 2009, Long Beach, California.
• State of the Art Virtual Reality Simulator Research and Development. Cendan JC, Kurenov S, Yeo Y-I, Punak S, Kim M, Peters J. Oral presentation as part of expert symposium on The Changing Face of Surgical Education: Simulation as the New Paradigm at the Academic Surgical Congress, Huntington Beach, CA, February 14, 2008
• “Fatty Tissue in a Haptic Illustration Environment”, Oral presentation at 16th Annual Medicine Meets Virtual Reality Conference, January 29 – February 1, 2008, Long Beach, California.
• “Development of computer models for surgical thread and tying knot simulations for medical students and residents.” Poster presentation at the University of Florida Research Celebration, Gainesville, Florida College of Medicine University of Florida, April 20, 2007.
• “Haptic-Enabled Toolkit for Illustration of Procedures in Surgery”, Oral presentation at Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 15, Feb 6-9, 2007, Long Beach, California.
• Multimedia Environment for Customized Teaching of Surgical Procedures. Cendan JC, Kurenov S, Punak S, Kim M, Peters J. Presented at the SAGES 2006 Emerging Technologies Poster Session, Dallas, Texas, April 29,2006.
• “Computer Based Exercise for Students and Residents Learning to Create Wound Closures and Anastomoses”, COMEC, University of Florida, April 11, 2006.
• “An Outcomes Based Enhancement and Assessment Program for Resident Pediatric Anesthesiology Education.” College of Medicine Research, University of Florida, April 11, 2006.
• “HANDS-ON Surgical Teaching” Department of Surgery Research Day, March 31, 2006
• “Exploiting graphics hardware for haptic authoring.” Presented at Medicine Meets Virtual Reality (MMVR) 14, Jan 25-27 2006, Long Beach,CA

Patents (US/International)/Submitted Inventions:

• S/N 60/857,237 – US Patent. “Customized handle of AutoSuture EndoStitch surgical tool for original stylus replacement on SensAble’s Omni haptic device.”
  PCT/US2007/083550 - International Patent Pending.