Dr. Carlos Vaz, M.D.
PRESENT SITUATION (since May 2016)
Company Name
- HOSPITAL CUF INFANTE SANTO – LISBON – PORTUGAL
- CUF ONCOLOGY INSTITUTE
- HOSPITAL CUF PORTO – OPORTO – PORTUGAL
Current position
- General Surgery consultant
- Head of the Robotic Surgery Unit
- Head of the Colorectal Cancer Unit at the CUF Oncology Institute
- Head of the Center for the Treatment of Obesity and Metabolic Diseases
EXPERIENCE
- 2007 – April 2016: Consultant General Surgeon at the Hospital da Luz – Lisbon, where he had the following positions:
- Co-direction of the General Surgery Department (2007 – 2014)
- Head of the Center of Colorectal Diseases (2007 – April 2016)
- Head of the Colorectal Cancer Unit (October 2015 – April 2016)
- Head of the Minimally Invasive Surgery Center (2007 – 2011)
- Head of the Robotic and Minimally Surgery Center, for General Surgery (2011 – April 2016)
- Member of the Nutrition Commission (2007 – 2014)
- 2007 – April 2016: Consultant General Surgeon at Hospital da Luz – Clínica de Oeiras
- 2005 – 2006: Consultant General Surgeon at AZ Sint-Blasius, in Dendermonde/Belgium (Director: Prof. Jacques Himpens)
- 2002 – 2004: Consultant General Surgeon at Hospital de S. Francisco Xavier, Hospital dos SAMS and Hospital CUF Descobertas, all in Lisbon/Portugal
EDUCATION
- 1996 – 2001: General Surgery residency at Hospital de S. Francisco Xavier, Lisbon
- 1993 – 1995: General Surgery residency at Hospital de Sta. Maria, Lisbon
- 1991 – 1992: General training at Hospital de S. João, Oporto
- 1984 – 1990: Medical Doctor at Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Oporto
AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST
- Robotic and minimally invasive surgery
- Performs in a regular basis, since the early 2000s, most of the general surgery procedures using laparoscopy, including advanced procedures such as adrenalectomy, hiatal hernia repair, inguinal hernia repair, bariatric surgery and colorectal surgery
- Performed the first robotic operation for General Surgery in Portugal
- Performed the first robotic gastric bypass in the Iberian Peninsula
- Proctored the first robotic bariatric operation in United Kingdom (Imperial College, London)
- Directs and runs the highest volume robotic bariatric and metabolic surgery program in Europe, since 2010
- Overall, performed more than 3500 operations by laparoscopic or robotic surgery
- Bariatric and metabolic surgery
- Since the early 2000s, with Prof. Jacques Himpens, pioneered some bariatric procedures
- Since 2005, joined Prof. Jacques Himpens (Director) in Dendermonde, Belgium; this center, with this two surgeons team, was at that time the busiest surgical obesity center in Europe.
- Returned to Portugal in 2007, set up the Center for the Treatment of Obesity in Hospital da Luz (2007) and the Center for the Treatment of Obesity and Metabolic Diseases in Hospital CUF Infante Santo (2016), performing by a minimally invasive approach all the internationally recognized operations for the treatment of obesity and diabetes – Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, duodenal switch, Scopinaro operation and ileal interposition
- Performed more than 2500 of those operations, including around 1500 laparoscopic and 400 robotic Roux-en-Y gastric bypasses.
- Colorectal surgery
- Attended the Postgraduate Teaching Term in colorectal surgery at St. Mark’s Hospital, London, 1999, for three months.
- Set up the Coloproctology Unit at the Hospital de S. Francisco Xavier, in Lisbon
- Set up the Colon Institute in Lisbon
- Set up the Coloproctology Outpatient Clinic in Hospital da Luz
- Performed more than 300 colorectal operations for cancer by minimally invasive (laparoscopic and robotic) means.
CAREER – ACADEMIC AND SCIENTIFIC
- Invited faculty, as lecturer or moderator, in several national and international symposia and congresses.
- Invited to perform live surgery on a regular basis, in several international symposia and congresses. He performed two live robotic gastric bypass during the world International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Diseases (IFSO) Congresses, held in Istanbul in 2013, and in Madrid in 2019.
- Organized and co-directed (with Dr. Nilton Kawahara and Prof. Jacques Himpens) the international symposium BEST – Bariatric Endoscopic Surgery Trends in 2010, in Lisbon.
- Organized and co-directed (with Dr. Keith Kim and Prof. Jacques Himpens) the international symposium LEAPING FORWARD 2014 – Robotic and Minimally Invasive Surgery, in Lisbon.
- Organized and co-directed (with Prof. Seon-Han Kim) the Rectal Cancer Meeting Lisbon 2015 – 1st International Edition, in Lisbon.
- Several papers published, as author and co-author, in international journals.
- Four chapters in text books (two edited by Springer Nature)
- Official international proctor of Intuitive Surgical Inc. for robotic General Surgery.
- Faculty at the Covidien/Medtronic Masterclass, in Elancourt.
- Directed and ran the international course Covidien/Medtronic Clinical Immersion at Hospital da Luz, Lisbon, for bariatric and metabolic surgery.
- Directing and running the international course Covidien/Medtronic Clinical Immersion at Hospital CUF Infante Santo, Lisbon, for bariatric and metabolic surgery and for colorectal cancer surgery.
- Consultant for Cambridge Medical Robotics, for the Versius project (robotic surgery system).
- Consultant for Medtronic on robotic surgery, and member of the Medtronic Robotic Colorectal Advisory Board
- Organized and co-directed (with Dr. Nilton Kawahara) the international symposium BEST – Bariatric Endoscopic Surgery Trends in 2017, in Lisbon.