About the Robotics Center

In August 2004, Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) became the first facility in the Buffalo-Niagara region to offer state-of-the-art robotic surgical technology to patients with prostate cancer. With the 2005 recruitment of Dr. Khurshid Guru—one of only a select group of surgeons nationwide who have completed a Robotic Surgery Fellowship—RPCI established a formal robot-assisted surgery program for urologic cancers. RPCI’s early adoption of robot-assisted surgery and its continued commitment to its refinement have transformed the way urologic cancer is treated in Western New York and throughout the country.

In less than three years, the number of robotic operations for kidney, bladder, and prostate cancer at RPCI increased from 50 to 95%. Along the way, Dr. Guru pioneered advanced robot-assisted surgical techniques. This minimally invasive surgical option, once offered to only urology patients, quickly became a viable, attractive option for many patients with gynecologic, thoracic and gastrointestinal cancers and some non-cancerous conditions.

Today, RPCI is a Center of Excellence for robot-assisted surgery. Surgical teams from around the globe come here to develop and improve their skills under the guidance of RPCI’s robotic surgery experts. By enhancing surgical capability through improved technology and continual training, RPCI provides patients with better clinical outcomes so they can return to active, productive lives more quickly.

RPCI’s Center for Robotics includes two state-of-the-art DaVinci robotic systems and an adjoining surgical teaching laboratory.

Community Support

RPCI’s Center for Robotic Surgery is funded through the leadership support of the John R. Oishei Foundation with additional support from the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation and the James H. Cummings Foundation.