Media Advisory: Roswell Park to Host Final Round of Inaugural Greater Buffalo Junior Robotic Surgeon Challenge April 26

WHAT:      Sixty-seven students from nine public and private high schools across Western New York have spent the last three months learning about robot-assisted surgery at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center using the same curriculum that is used to train surgeons from around the world. The final round of the Greater Buffalo Junior Robotic Surgeon Challenge will see the top two competitors going head-to-head using the da Vinci Surgical System in a Roswell Park operating room. The two students will perform an actual robot-assisted surgery on a synthetic bladder while the audience watches a telecast. Roswell Park surgeons will rate the finalists’ performance to decide the winner.

The program was designed by Khurshid Guru, MD, Director of the Roswell Park Center for Robotic Surgery, and Eileen O’Brien, PhD, STEM Coordinator for Immaculate Conception School, and organized by Erinn Field, program coordinator for Roswell Park’s Applied Technology Laboratory for Advanced Surgery.

The event is open to media and invited guests.

WHEN:     Saturday, April 26, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; awards presentation 12:30 p.m.

WHERE:   Hohn Auditorium — Research Studies Center, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Elm & Carlton Sts., Buffalo

NOTES:    High schools across WNY were invited to take part in the competition. Nine schools are participating:

  • Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart
  • Clarence High School
  • East Aurora High School
  • Hamburg High School
  • Mount Mercy Academy
  • Mount St. Mary Academy
  • Nardin Academy
  • St. Francis High School
  • Williamsville East High School

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The mission of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1898, Roswell Park is one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email AskRoswell@Roswellpark.org. Follow Roswell Park on Facebook and Twitter.

Media Contact

Annie Deck-Miller, Senior Media Relations Manager
716-845-8593; annie.deck-miller@roswellpark.org