Christopher Mitchell, M.D., appointed director of robotic surgery

Christopher Mitchell, M.D., appointed director of robotic surgery

Christopher Mitchell, M.D., is Christiana Care’s newly appointed director of robotic surgery at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute. He joins Christiana Care and the physicians at Brandywine Urology Consultants in Wilmington, having completed a two-year fellowship in laparoscopy/endourology at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Christopher Mitchell to the Cancer Center and Christiana Care,” said Nicholas J. Petrelli, M.D., Bank of America-endowed medical director of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute. “Dr. Mitchell’s expertise in minimally invasive and robotic surgical techniques raises the bar in our region for treating complex genitourinary cancers and other diseases and is one more important reason why our community can rely on expert care close to home.”

Dr. Mitchell brings expertise in some of the most advanced and complex minimally invasive robotic surgical techniques in the field of urology today. With his arrival, Christiana Care is one of only a handful of centers in the United States to offer a new procedure shown to be highly effective in treating enlarged prostate or BPH (benign prostate hyperplasia), a non-cancerous condition that affects most men as they age. The clinical name of the procedure is holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP).

“Dr. Christopher Mitchell’s experience and research interests in minimally invasive and robotic surgery will further enhance our capabilities to serve the urology needs of our patients in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” said Andrew J. Glick, M.D., a senior partner at Brandywine Urology Consultants. “We are very fortunate that Dr. Mitchell has chosen to join our practice staff and physicians and to strengthen our commitment to offering the latest innovations and technologies in urologic care.”

Dr. Mitchell graduated from Villanova University in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in biology. He earned his medical degree from the University of Maryland in 2008, where he received the Gold Medal Award, presented to one graduate with outstanding scholarly accomplishments.

Following a one-year internship in general surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Dr. Mitchell completed residency training in urology (2009-2013) at the Mayo Clinic. He completed a two-year fellowship in laparoscopy/endourology at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville (2013-2015).

During his residency, Dr. Mitchell collaborated with world-renowned researchers at the Mayo Clinic to gain FDA approval as the first site in the U.S. to manufacture and administer a powerful imaging agent used with PET scans to detect recurrent prostate cancer earlier and more effectively than conventional imaging techniques. Dr. Mitchell presented on this work at national and international meetings, and his project was highlighted at the Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting in 2011. He also won First Place awards in 2012 in both the Minnesota Urologic Society’s Kelalis Essay Contest and the Mayo Clinic’s Joseph W. Segura Essay Contest.

His passion for research focuses on developing new robotics procedures and robotic technologies. He is collaborating currently with a team of surgeons and engineers to design and develop a new transurethral robot to improve surgery for benign prostate conditions.

“As director of robotic surgery at Christiana Care and a member of Brandywine Urology Consultants, I’m joining a great team dedicated to offering high-quality, cutting-edge, minimally invasive techniques for a broad variety of disease conditions, across many surgical specialties,” said Dr. Mitchell. “With a highly trained team of surgeons, anesthesiologists and surgical technicians dedicated to robotic surgery, I firmly believe that we will continue to demonstrate expertise on par with our nation’s top hospitals.”

Dr. Mitchell is board-eligible in urology and specializes in minimally invasive robotic surgery to treat benign and malignant diseases of the genitourinary tract, including partial nephrectomy for kidney tumors, prostatectomy for prostate cancer and complex ureteral reconstruction.

He has presented both nationally and internationally on the topics of kidney cancer, prostate cancer, BPH and stone disease. His work is published in numerous peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Urology, the Journal of Endourology, Urology and in BJU International.

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