This special series on Innovations in Robotic VATS and Bronchochoscopic Procedures is co-edited by Dr. Hiran C. Fernando, from Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; and Dr. John F. Lazar, from Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA.

Hiran C. Fernando, MBBS, FRCS, FRCSEd, FACS
Allegheny General Hospital, Department of Thoracic Surgery, South Tower, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Dr. Hiran Fernando graduated from the Royal Free Hospital, University of London. After obtaining fellowships from the Royal College of Surgeons of England and Edinburgh, he undertook additional training in the United States. He subsequently held faculty appointments at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Boston University (as Professor and Chair of Thoracic Surgery), Inova Fairfax Medical Campus, (as Professor of Surgery and co-director of Thoracic Oncology). In 2020, he joined the faculty at Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh. His clinical interests include lung cancer, esophageal cancer and benign esophageal diseases. He has published extensively in these areas serving as the principal or co-principal investigator for several multi-center clinical trials. He is a member of several societies including the STS, American Surgical Association, AATS, ISMICS, ESTS, and the General Thoracic Surgery Club. He is an Associate Editor for Diseases of the Esophagus, and on the Editorial Boards of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. He is currently on the Board of Directors for ISMICS, and has been a co-author for several guidelines sponsored by the STS and ISMICS.

John F. Lazar, MD
Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery MedStar, Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA

John F. Lazar, MD, is a board-certified general thoracic surgeon, and is part of the faculty at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC where he serves as Director of Surgical Innovation at MedStar Institute for Innovation, Co-Director of Robotics at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, and Assistant Professor of Thoracic surgery. Dr. Lazar has expanded the surgical robotics program to build multidisciplinary endobronchial and endoluminal robotic programs. Current research interests are measuring objective operative performance indicators of cardiothoracic trainees and attendings to better quantify performance during robotic lobectomy and how endobronchial robotics can deliver oncological therapeutics. Outside of the hospital, Dr. Lazar serves chief administrator for the Robotic Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery Community Facebook page with over 2200 active members and on the Executive Committee of the Eastern Cardiothoracic Surgical Society.

Series outline:

1. Editorial
2. Robotic Bronchoscopy for diagnosis of lung nodules using the ION system: technical aspects and advantages over EM navigation
3. Robotic Bronchoscopy for diagnosis of lung nodules using the Monarch system: technical aspects and advantages over EM navigation
4. Robotic bronchoscopy to aid robotic lung resection: technical aspects and advantages over other localization methods
5. Bronchoscopic ablation of lung tumors: technique and patient selection
6. Robotic lower lobe atypical segmentectomy: technical pearls
7. Robotic upper lobe segmentectomy: technical pearls
8. Transitioning from a successful laparoscopic to robotic thoracic program. How and why do it?
9. Robotic esophagectomy: technical pearls
10. The future of robotic therapeutics: what is on the horizon

Disclosure:
The series “Innovations in Robotic VATS and Bronchochoscopic Procedures” was commissioned by the editorial office, Journal of Visualized Surgery without any sponsorship or funding. Hiran C. Fernando and John F. Lazar are serving as the unpaid Guest Editors for the series.