Recognized knowledge and expertise
As part of our strategy, collaboration, research portfolio management and knowledge management are corporate disciplines we actively cultivate. We heavily rely on the knowledge and expertise of our Scientific Advisory Board to align our R&D efforts with the needs of the medical community, and by extension, the patient community.
The Fortimedix Scientific Advisory Board consists of internationally recognized key opinion leaders in the field of minimally invasive surgery. We plan on expanding our Scientific Advisory Board as we continue to develop solutions across surgical specialties.
Santiago Horgan, MD
Santiago Horgan, MD is an internationally recognized leader in minimally invasive surgery and an expert in esophageal disease, weight-loss surgery, and new technologies and approaches for surgery. He is also a pioneer in the field of natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES), in which surgical instruments are passed through a natural orifice such as the mouth to reach the desired organ.
Dr. Horgan is professor of surgery and director of the Center for the Future of Surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine where he works with colleagues to investigate, develop, test and teach procedures and technologies that are revolutionizing the field of surgery. Before joining the Department of Surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine in 2006, Dr. Horgan was director of the Minimally Invasive Surgery and Robotic Surgery Department and co-director of the Swallowing Center at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
He was also director of the Minimally Invasive Bariatric Center in Chicago. Dr. Horgan completed his fellowship at University of Washington School of Medicine and his residency at University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine in Argentina, where he also received his medical degree.
Since 2011, Dr. Horgan has been consulting for Fortimedix Surgical, sharing his vision and delivering an invaluable contribution to the development of our products. In October 2016, Dr. Horgan was the first surgeon in the United States to use the symphonX™ Surgical Platform in a patient suffering from biliary colic.
“Fortimedix Surgical is taking on the challenge to overcome technical limitations in minimally invasive surgery across surgical specialties. It is very exciting to be part of this quest and provide an environment in which surgical innovation will continue to thrive.”
Karl-Hermann Fuchs, MD
Karl-Hermann Fuchs, MD is the medical director of the Agaplesion Markus Hospital, Frankfurt am Main, Germany and the chief of surgery of the Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Fuchs is a past president (2011 – 2013) of the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (EAES) and internationally renowned for his expertise in gastrointestinal and colorectal surgery.
He began his medical career in 1979 as a conscripted doctor in the German army. At the University of Kiel, he completed his thesis and received the Assistant Professor title in 1989. In 1991, Dr. Fuchs joined the University of Würzburg, where he became a Professor of Surgery in 1994 and served as a deputy director until joining the Agaplesion Markus Hospital in 2003 as chief of surgery of the Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery.
Dr. Fuchs has been consulting for Fortimedix Surgical in the field of colorectal surgery since 2015 where, under his leadership and guidance, developments for a less invasive solution for transanal colon resection (TaCR) continue. Successful pre-clinical and clinical case series have been performed, resulting in podium presentations at leading conferences, including SAGES, EAES, NOSCAR and D-NOTES.
“Studies show that the symphonX™ based platform enables transanal colon resection (TaCR) with the aid of only a single 5mm transabdominal trocar for visualization. This is an important result that could have positive effects on patient outcomes in terms of post-operative pain, wound complications and hernia development following surgery.”