Listen to this articleNew Hyde Park-based Northwell Health Cancer Institute is expanding its robotic pancreas surgery program.
The institute has appointed Dr. Steven Mitchell Cohen as its director of robotic pancreas surgery. Cohen brings to the program his expertise on robotic Whipple procedures, a complex surgery that is said to be less invasive than other procedures. Cohen will report to Dr. Matthew Weiss, the director of surgical oncology at the institute.
“We’re excited to add such an experienced leader in pancreas surgery, someone who has performed a high level with excellent outcomes on the leading edge of pancreatic cancer,” Weiss said in a news release about the program’s expansion. “The Whipple operation is already performed in high volume both robotically and open at Northwell Health. We’re confident Dr. Cohen will take this program to the next level.”
Cohen previously served in roles at NYU Langone, from its gastrointestinal cancer management group to general surgery, and was involved in roles at Surgical Oncology NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and NY Harbor VA Health Care System. In the last five years, he focused extensively on robotic Whipple surgery in the Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery. Cohen is board certified in general surgery and surgical critical care/trauma by the American Board of Surgery.
“The goal is to convert the more complicated pancreas surgeries to robotic procedures,” Cohen said in the news release.
“Robotic pancreas Whipple surgery is preferable because it’s less invasive, there’s less blood loss and patients will experience less pain post-op,” Cohen added. “The robot allows for a great deal of suturing and stitching, similar to what I can do during an open surgery. And the visual is very impressive since you can see it in 3D. Additionally, the patient’s hospital stay will be shorter, and they’ll experience a slightly shorter healing process.”
Now, the institute aims to significantly expand the program.
“The plan is to be the top program in the northeast in the next three-to-five years,” Cohen said,
Cohen earned a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Arizona and his medical degree from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his postdoctoral training, residencies and internships at Brookdale University Hospital in Brooklyn.
The procedure is named after Allen Oldfather Whipple, former chairman of the Department of Surgery at Columbia University who pioneered the procedure, according to the university.
Cohen will perform robotic Whipple procedures at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore and Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.