Mani Menon

Mani Menon
Dr. Mani Menon at VGR 2012
Born	(1948-07-09) 9 July 1948 in Trichur, Kerala, India
Nationality	American
Occupation	Director of the Vattikuti Urology Institute, Detroit, MI
Spouse(s)	Dr. Shameem Menon
Children	2
Website	www.henryford.com/physician-directory/m/menon-mani

Mani Menon, born 9 July 1948 in Trichur, India, is an American surgeon whose pioneering work has helped to lay the foundation for modern robotic cancer surgery. He is the founding director and the Raj and Padma Vattikuti Distinguished Chair of the Vattikuti Urology Institute at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI, where he established the first cancer-oriented robotics program in the world. Menon is widely regarded for his role in the development of robotic surgery techniques for the treatment of patients with prostate, kidney, and bladder cancers,^[1][2][3] as well as for the development of robotic kidney transplantation.
Menon is the recipient of the Gold Cystoscope award (American Urological Association, 2001), Hugh Hampton Young award (American Urological Associaion, 2011), the Keyes Medal (American Association of Genitourinary surgeons, 2016), the prestigious B.C. Roy award (Awarded by the President of India, for his achievements in the fields of urology and robotics).^[4] He has been inducted into the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, the highest honor awarded by the University. The Society of Urologic Robotic Surgery instituted a Gold Medal in Menon's name in 2017, of which he was the first recipient. An exhibit titled Many Voices, One Nation at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History incorporates some of Menon's person effects.

Early years and urological career

Menon developed a novel technique to measure androgen receptors in the human prostate.^[5] At the age of 34, Menon became the chairman of the Urology department at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.^[5] During early career, his major contributions were in the field of kidney stone disease where he helped develop the use of intra-operative ultrasonography as an aid to renal stone management ^[6] and also devised methods to quantify citrate and oxalate levels in urine using ion chromatography.^[7][8] He was a major co-author on the landmark paper that helped formulate FDA approved guidlelines for ESWL utilization in management of stone disease.^[9] In addition to his contributions to the field of urolithiasis, during his early career he was also helped develop the technique of flexible cystoscopy (one of the most common urological procedures) and demonstrated the utility of flourescin dye in renal angiography.^[10]
Menon has published more than 800 papers, 400 poster presentations, 90 book chapters and invited articles^[11] mostly in the field of robotic prostatectomy, renal transplantation and urolithiasis. He has been an invited lecturer and guest professor over 70 times at institutions all over the world. His work of research has been published in many urological journals such as the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the American Journal of Physiology, Proceedings of the National Academy, the New England Journal of Medicine and many more.^[11]

Robotic surgery

In 1997, Menon was recruited to become chairman of urology at Henry Ford Hospital in to revive the prostate cancer program. In 2001, Henry Ford Hospital's urology department would receive a $20 million donation from the Vattikuti foundation.^[12] The donation helped establish the Vattikuti Urology Institute (VUI) and would allow Menon's team to explore minimally invasive means of treating prostate cancer.
Menon and the staff at the VUI developed robotic procedures in general (for example, for bladder and kidney cancer) and the prostatectomy in particular.^[13] The robotic prostatectomy developed by Menon is called the "Vattikuti Institute Prostatectomy". Specialised laparoscopic instruments are used for the procedure.^[13][14] During the operation, images from a 3-D camera are projected to a remote console. The surgeons operates in virtual reality, observing the images on a screen. This technology serves to make the surgery less invasive and more precise. Menon has performed nearly 4,000 robotic prostatectomies^[15] and is considered a world authority on the use robotic surgery for prostate cancer.^[13] Under the leadership of Dr. Menon, the VUI established the first ever robotic training program in the world; for prostatectomy in 2000,^[16] for cystectomy in 2003 ^[17] and for nephrectomy in 2006 ^[18] and most recently, in 2013, for kidney transplantation (trial ongoing).

In his years as Director of VUI, Menon has trained and mentored fellow surgeon, Ashutosh Tewari. To this day, Menon and Tewari collaborate on clinical manuscripts, research abstracts, conference lectures, and other projects. Both surgeons have significantly influenced the field of robotic surgery as it applies to urology, refining patient outcomes as well as boosting the surgical robot industry.^[19]

In November 2011, Dr. Mani Menon was the keynote presenter and surgeon at prominent hospitals in six of India's major cities as part of the Vattikuti Foundation "Road Show". The Road Show was designed as a way to teach and inspire the medical community and public in India about the benefits of robotic surgery. The undertaking began in Gurgaon, and when it was over, two weeks later, 28 robotic procedures would demonstrate procedures in Urology and Gynecology to very interested audiences. Lectures and media interviews helped the public gain an understanding.^[20]

Honors and awards

Research papers

Menon has published over 800 papers, 90 book chapters and invited articles mostly in the field of robotic prostatectomy, renal transplantation and urolithiasis.^[5] He has been authored / co-authored in 8 of the top 15 most cited articles in robotic prostatectomy.^[11] He is the most referenced surgeon in the topic of robotic prostectomy with over 1050 citations.^[11] Some of his top referenced publications include:^[11][21]

• Menon M, Shrivastava A, Tewari A, Sarle R, Hemal AK, Peabody JO, Vallancien G.
  Laparascopic and robot assisted radical prostatectomy: Establishment of a structured program and preliminary analysis of outcomes.
  J Urol 2002; 168(3): 945-49.
• Tewari A, Shrivastava A, Menon M.
  A prospective comparison of retropubic and robot-assisted prostatactomy: Experience in one institution.
  BJU Int. 2003; 92(3): 205-10.
• Menon M, Tewari A, Baize B, Guillonneau B, Valencien G.
  Prospective comparison of radical retropubic prostatectomy and robot-assisted anatomic prostatectomy: The Vattikuti Urology Institute Experience.
  Urology 2002; 60(5): 864-68.
• Menon M, Tewari A, Peabody JO, Baize B, Hemal AK, Sarle R, Shrivastava A.
  Vattikuti Institute Prostatectomy: Technique.
  J Urol 2002; 169(6): 2289-92.
• Menon M, Tewari A, Peabody JO, Shrivastava A, Kaul S, Bhandari A, Hemal AK.
  Vattikuti Institute Prostatectomy, a technique of robotic radical prostatectomy for management of localized carcinoma of the prostate: Experience of over 1100 cases.
  Urol Clinics N America 2004; 31(4): 701-17.
• Hemal AK, Hassan AE, Tewari A., Shrivastava, A., Shoma, AM, Ghoneim MA, Menon M. Robotic radical cystectomy and urinary diversion in the management of bladder cancer.
  Urology Clinics of North America 31(4): 719- 729, 2004
• Krane LS, Bhandari M, Peabody JO, Menon M. Impact of percutaneous suprapubic tube drainage on patient discomfort after radical prostatectomy.
  Eur Urol. 2009 Aug;56(2):325-30.
• Menon M and Mahle, C.J.: Ion-chromatographic measurement of oxalate in unprocessed urine.
  Clin Chem 29:369, 1983.
• Menon M and Mahle, C.J.: Urinary citrate excretion in patients with renal calculi.
  J Urol, 129:1158, 1983.
• Marshall, F.F., Smith, N.A., Murphy, J.B., Menon, M and Sanders, R.: Intraoperative ultrasonography as an aid to renal calculus surgery.
  J Urol, 126:576, 1981.
• Menon M: The use of fluorescein to demarcate the avascular plane in anatrophic nephrolithotomy.
  Urology, 22:183, 1984.
• Consensus conference. Prevention and treatment of kidney stones.
  JAMA. 1988 Aug 19;260(7):977-81.

Collaboration with NYU Langone School of Medicine

In March 2008, Menon and a surgical team from the Vattikuti Urology Institute entered a joint collaboration with Dr. Herbert Lepor and his team at the Department of Urology at the NYU School of Medicine at New York University.^[22] The objective of this collaboration was to expand resident education, patient care and academic exchange between the institutions in the field of urology. Combined initiatives include female urology, oncology, minimally invasive surgery, basic research, and outcome analysis.

See also

• Vattikuti Urology Institute
• International Robotic Urology Symposium

References

External links

• Dr. Mani Menon's website
• The International Robotic Urology Symposium
• The Vattikuti Urology Institute at the Henry Ford Hospital