Richard Satava

Richard Satava, MD, FACS, is Professor Emeritus of Surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center, and Senior Science Advisor at the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command in Ft. Detrick, MD. Satava held previous academic positions at Yale University and a military appointment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He served as Program Manager of Advanced Biomedical Technology at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). His undergraduate training was at Johns Hopkins University, medical school at Hahnemann University of Philadelphia, internship at the Cleveland Clinic, surgical residency at the Mayo Clinic, and a fellowship with a Master of Surgical Research at Mayo Clinic. He has held various roles including Director of the NASA/Yale University Commercial Space Center for Medical Informatics and Technology Applications.

During his 23 years of military surgery, Satava has been an active flight surgeon, an Army astronaut candidate, MASH surgeon for the Grenada Invasion, and a hospital commander during Desert Storm, all the while continuing clinical surgical practice. He has served on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Committee on Health, Food, and Safety. Currently, he is a member of the Emerging Technologies and Resident Education, and Informatics committees of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). He is a past president of the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) and the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons (SLS), and he is on the Board of Governors of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) as well as on a number of surgical societies.

Satava's groundbreaking work includes the initial development of the surgical robot that evolved into the DaVinci Surgical Robot. He is continuously active in surgical education and surgical research, with over 200 publications and book chapters in areas such as Surgery in the Space Environment, Virtual Reality Surgical Simulation, and links between advanced technology and clinical applications. His current research focuses on advanced technologies to formulate the architecture for the next generation of clinical medicine, education, and training. Satava has repeatedly been recognized for his contributions, including being awarded the Department of Defense's prestigious Legion of Merit. He has spoken on various topics related to the future of healthcare and technology in medicine at notable venues including the Mayo Surgical Symposium. His topics include "Surgery of the Future," "What's After Laparoscopic Surgery," and the "Plasma Foundation for a revolution in healthcare." He also discusses the "Evolution of the Hospital of the Future" and the "Innovative and Entrepreneurial Culture in Healthcare," addressing themes like "Total Body Scanning and the Longitudinal Health Record" and "Innovation and Advanced Technologies for the Future of Healthcare."