Randall K. Wolf Named Ethicon Endo-Surgery Chair

Randall K. Wolf, MD, an internationally recognized pioneer in minimally invasive and robotic surgery, has been named to the newly established Ethicon Endo-Surgery Chair in the Department of Surgery at the UC College of Medicine.

Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc. contributed funding to support the chair and UC’s new Center for

Surgical Innovation (CSI).

“With this new chair, Dr. Wolf is leading UC into discovery that directly translates into better care for patients,” said Jeffrey Matthews, MD, Christian R. Holmes Professor and chair of UC’s Department of Surgery.

Dr. Wolf, director of the CSI and professor of both surgery and biomedical engineering, was the first surgeon in the United States to use the da Vinci robotic surgical system for minimally invasive heart surgery.

He headed Ethicon Endo-Surgery’s first training courses in minimally invasive thoracic surgery and has collaborated with the Blue Ash, Ohio, company on several new technologies.

Dr. Wolf also led the research team that developed the Wolf Mini Maze, a minimally invasive surgical procedure that cures an irregular heartbeat condition called atrial fibrillation, utilizing an endoscopic technique. Atrial fibrillation increases the risk of heart attack or stroke and affects 2.5 million Americans.

A native Cincinnatian, Dr. Wolf has performed minimally invasive heart surgery in more than 15 countries and trains cardiac surgeons from around the world in minimally invasive techniques.

He is the current president of the International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Society and president-elect of the 21st Century Cardiac Surgery Club.