Written by Dr Gregory Weinstein
Dr. Weinstein has been faculty at the University of Pennsylvania since 1991 and is the founding member and Co-Director of the Penn Center for Head and Neck Cancer, which is an internationally renowned multidisciplinary team for the management of all aspects of care of patients with head and neck cancers. Dr. Weinstein is a graduate of the Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery residency program at the University of Iowa. Following his residency he completed an American Head and Neck Society fellowship in Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery. In addition he has worked with John Conley’s service in New York as well as Henri Laccourreye’s service in Paris and has published with them both. Dr. Weinstein’s clinical expertise is in head and neck surgery including all aspects of cancer surgery of oral, pharyngeal, laryngeal and neck cancer as well as special expertise in thyroid and parotid surgery. Dr. Weinstein has an international reputation for expertise in organ preservation for cancers involving the larynx. Dr Weinstein was the first surgeon in the United States to perform the larynx preserving surgery, the Supracricoid Partial Laryngectomy, and has been the primary instructor of this procedure nationally and has reported on the largest American series of this procedure. Dr. Weinstein, together with Dr. Bert W. O’Malley, Jr. established the world’s first research program in TORS. Through a multi-tiered research program, beginning with airway mannequins, and progressing through cadaver and animal models, numerous novel head and neck and skull base procedures were invented utilising the da Vinci surgical system. Dr. Weinstein was Principal Investigator for the world’s first Institutional Review Board approved human trial in Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS). TORS utilises the da Vinci surgical system to resect benign and malignant lesions of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx and skull base. Approximately 1000 patients have undergone TORS at the University of Pennsylvania, to date. Prior to FDA clearance for use of TORS in the United States Drs. Weinstein and O’Malley established the International TORS training program in which participants attend a clinical observership, cadaver robotic laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. This program has resulted in the establishment of active TORS clinical programs in numerous countries including Belgium, England, Denmark, France, Italy, Brazil, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain, The Czech Republic, Turkey as well as others. Following FDA clearance the training program at the University of Pennsylvania was expanded to include American surgeons. To date approximately 400 post-graduate American Head and Neck Surgeons have participated in the TORS training program at the University of Pennsylvania. His important work in the area of voice box preservation in the face of laryngeal cancer and TORS resulting in his being honored, on two separate occasions, with The University of Pennsylvania Health System Award of Excellence and the Luigi Mastroianni Clinical Innovator Award. Dr Weinstein is the author of over 150 peer reviewed medical articles. His books entitled Organ Preservation Surgery for Laryngeal Cancer and Transoral Robotic Surgery provide comprehensive and practical guides for clinicians in each of these surgical areas. Dr. Weinstein was a founding member and the first President of the Society of Robotic Surgeons, which at present has a membership of over 800 surgeons and is a vibrant, academically productive and financially stable organisation. He has been Principal or Co-Principal investigator on multiple research grants. Between 1993 and 2016, Dr Weinstein has given over 125 invited international and national lectures.