About this episode:

Robotic telesurgery allows providers to conduct minimally invasive surgeries across long distances, reaching remote communities. In this episode: Binita Ashar, a surgeon with a background in policy, discusses the revolutionary role this technology can play in medicine and what issues need to be addressed—from cost to cybersecurity—in order to greenlight more procedures in the United States.

Guests:

Binita Ashar, MD, MBA, is a general surgeon who previously served as the Director of the FDA's Office of Surgical and Infection Control Devices. She also serves on the board of the Society of Robotic Surgery.

Host:

Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs.

Show links and related content:

• Exclusive look at groundbreaking remote robotic surgery: Patient was in Africa; doctor was in Florida—ABC News

• WHO and Society of Robotic Surgery launch health innovation initiative to expand access to virtual care and telesurgery—WHO

Transcript information:

Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel.

Contact us:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Follow us:

• @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky

• @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram

• @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook

• @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube

• Here's our RSS feed

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.