Cedars-Sinai launched the Center for Autonomous Robotic Surgery, a new initiative bringing together surgeons and engineers to develop the next generation of surgical robots capable of performing certain tasks autonomously while working alongside surgeons in the operating room.
The center will be co-directed by Andrew J. Hung, M.D., a urologist and minimally invasive robotic surgery specialist in the Cedars-Sinai Department of Urology, and Michael C. Yip, Ph.D., who joins Cedars-Sinai from the University of California, San Diego.
Yip will hold a joint faculty appointment in Urology and Computational Biomedicine.
At UC San Diego, Yip directed the Advanced Robotics and Controls Laboratory and developed expertise across surgical robotics, machine learning, and autonomous systems.
Cedars-Sinai said the combination of Hung’s clinical experience and Yip’s engineering background is intended to bridge the gap between operating room needs and robotic system development.
The center will focus on building surgeon-driven autonomous systems designed to augment clinical judgment rather than replace surgeons.
The goal is to develop technologies that can make surgery safer, more precise, and more broadly available while supporting treatment of increasingly complex conditions.
Hung brings experience in robotic surgery and research involving AI-driven surgical performance metrics.
His work will help guide how autonomous robotic systems are designed to function in real-world surgical environments.
Yip will focus on the engineering and intelligence behind the systems, including machine learning, advanced sensing, robotics, and autonomous control.
The center plans to develop surgical robots that can better understand the operating environment and autonomously support surgical teams in real time.
Cedars-Sinai said this approach could allow engineers to design systems around the practical needs of physicians and patients rather than develop robotic technologies separately from clinical workflows.
Hung and Yip are also recruiting clinicians, engineers, and data scientists to join the center’s multidisciplinary team.
The broader effort is intended to create a collaborative research environment where robotic surgery, AI, engineering, and clinical medicine can be developed together.
Cedars-Sinai said the center represents a significant expansion of its work in surgical innovation and autonomous medical technologies.
KEY QUOTES:
“For too long, the development of surgical robots has happened at a distance from the operating room, but the Center for Autonomous Robotic Surgery changes that. As surgeons, we know what good surgery looks like. By embedding clinical expertise directly into the engineering process, we can build autonomous systems that surgeons will trust and patients will benefit from. This is where the future of robotic surgery will be built.”
Andrew J. Hung, M.D., Co-Director of the Center for Autonomous Robotic Surgery at Cedars-Sinai
“Surgical robotics has reached a turning point. We now have the tools, from machine learning to advanced sensing, to build systems that genuinely understand the surgical environment and be able to autonomously support the surgical team in real time. Co-creating this center at Cedars-Sinai gives me the opportunity to bring the leading edge in surgical robot intelligence into clinical practice, working directly with physicians who are treating patients every day to make sure it is translated responsibly and effectively.”
Michael C. Yip, Ph.D., Co-Director of the Center for Autonomous Robotic Surgery at Cedars-Sinai
“The launch of the Center for Autonomous Robotic Surgery marks a pivotal moment for surgical innovation at Cedars-Sinai. Dr. Hung and Dr. Yip represent exactly the kind of partnership we need to move this field forward. Their respective leadership will give the Center for Autonomous Robotic Surgery a rare ability to develop autonomous systems that are both scientifically rigorous and grounded in real patient care.”
Jeffrey A. Golden, M.D., Executive Vice Dean of Research and Education and Director of the Burns and Allen Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai
