Leadership Specialty: Robotic Surgery

Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

• Associate Professor of Surgery
• Section Chief, Colon and Rectal Surgery

Craig Rezac, M.D., is a Double Board Certified Surgeon with clinical interest in Colon and Rectal Surgery. American-born, Dr. Rezac received his doctorate degree from Pisa Medical School in Pisa, Italy in 1995, and his undergraduate degree from Adelphi University in Long Island, NY in 1981. Dr. Rezac is licensed to practice in New Jersey and the Republic of Italy.

Currently, Dr. Rezac serves as Associate Professor of Surgery, Section Chief Colon and Rectal Surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) in New Brunswick, NJ. He also serves as Staff Physician, General Surgery at Somerset Medical Center in Somerville, NJ.

After receiving his medical degree, Dr. Rezac completed a Surgical Externship at La Spezia Hospital in La Spezia, Italy. He then completed a General Surgery Internship at the Monmouth Hospital in Long Branch, NJ. This was followed by a General Surgery Residency at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ, and a Colorectal Surgery Fellowship at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Edison, NJ. Lastly, Dr. Rezac completed a Laparoscopic Fellowship at Hackensack University Hospital in Hackensack, NJ.

Dr. Rezac holds numerous medical certifications as follows: Cyberknife, Davinci Laparoscopic Robotic Surgery, Davinci Advanced Laparoscopic Robotic Surgery for Colon and Rectal Surgery, American Heart Association (BLS/CPR), Trans Anal Endoscopic Microsurgery (TEM), and Stapled Trans Anal Rectal Resection (STARR). Dr. Rezac has the distinct honour of being the first doctor in New Jersey to be certified in both TEM and STARR.

Dr. Rezac is a member of several professional associations, including: American College of Surgeons (Fellowship), American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons, American College of Surgeons, New Jersey Chapter, and the New Jersey Chapter of American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (past-President).

Dr. Rezac has received a number of honors and awards for outstanding performance both academically and professionally. He currently serves on several major committees, in addition to school and hospital committees, while continuing to meet various teaching and clinical responsibilities.

Dr. Rezac has received substantial grant support for medical studies and has been widely published in national and international medical journals, books, monographs, chapters, and articles. Dr. Rezac has generously shared his time and talents to deliver over 30 scientific and clinical presentations around the world.

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

• Director of Robotic Surgery, Division of Head and Neck Surgery
• Director of the Center for Advanced Robotics Training (CART)
• University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Umamaheswar Duvvuri, MD, PhD, is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania obtaining his Medical Degree in 2000 and his PhD in Biophysics in 2002. He completed an internship in General Surgery in 2003 and residency training in Otolaryngology in 2007 at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He completed fellowship training in Head and Neck Surgery in 2008 at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

He joined the University of Pittsburgh in August 2008 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Division and is also a staff physician in the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.

He serves as the Director of Robotic Surgery, Division of Head and Neck Surgery, at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine and is the current Director of the Center for Advanced Robotics Training (CART) at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He directs the Cart Training Courses which provide technical and circumstantial resources to initiate and optimize robotic surgery programs.

He has authored numerous research publications and book chapters and is an invited guest lecturer/speaker on the subject of robotic surgery both nationally and internationally.

A Fulbright scholar, his research interests include minimally invasive endoscopic and robotic surgery of the head and neck, tumors of the thyroid and parathyroid glands and molecular oncology of head and neck cancer.

He directs a federally funded laboratory that studies the biology of head and neck cancer. He holds funding from the National Institute of Health, Department of Veterans Affairs and the “V” foundation.