An Inside Look: Previewing the Mayo Clinic Department of Surgery’s Beahrs Surgical Innovation Summit (Webinar)
Thursday, July 10, 2025 | 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. CST
Join us on Thursday, July 10, for a special preview of the Mayo Clinic Department of Surgery’s Beahrs Surgical Innovation Summit, featuring Cornelius Thiels, D.O., Associate Chair of Innovation for Mayo’s Department of Surgery and Kyle Ettinger, M.D., D.D.S., Director of Innovation for Mayo’s Department of Surgery.
This virtual conversation will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the groundbreaking work happening within the Department of Surgery and set the stage for the upcoming summit. Dr. Thiels and Dr. Ettinger will share how their teams are advancing surgical care through cutting-edge technologies, data-driven decision-making and a culture of continuous improvement.
Attendees will gain early insight into the themes and innovations that will be showcased at the Department of Surgery’s Beahrs Surgical Innovation Summit, including the integration of AI, robotics and immersive simulation into surgical practice.
There will also be time for a Q&A at the end of the event.
Speakers
Cornelius Thiels, D.O., M.B.A., Associate Chair, Innovation, Mayo Clinic Department of Surgery, Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgeon
Cornelius Thiels, D.O., MBA, FACS, FSSO, is an Associate Professor of Surgery and Associate Professor of Health Services Research at Mayo Clinic.
As a surgical oncologist in the Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgery, he specializes in managing retroperitoneal sarcomas and pancreatic cancer. He also has extensive training and experience in the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors, GIST, gastric cancer, and metastatic colorectal cancer.
Dr. Thiels has special expertise in multimodality treatment of advanced or metastatic cancers, combining surgery with radiation, chemotherapy, or immunotherapy. Dr. Thiels utilizes minimally invasive techniques to perform various operations (including robotic surgery) and leads the Hepatic Artery Infusion Pump Chemotherapy program at Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Thiels is the Associate Chair of Innovation, the Associate Chair of Data and Analytics for Mayo Clinic's Department of Surgery, and the Director of a Surgical AI2 (“Squared”) Lab. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed publications, is the Minnesota State Chair for the Commission on Cancer, and is the NSQIP Surgeon Champion for Mayo Clinic. He has multiple innovative partnerships with industry in artificial intelligence, virtual reality and novel cancer treatments. Through these efforts, he focuses on improving outcomes for patients undergoing surgery and those with rare and advanced cancers.
Kyle Ettinger, M.D., D.D.S., Director, Innovation, Mayo Clinic Department of Surgery, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon
Kyle Ettinger, M.D., D.D.S., is an Associate Professor of Surgery within the Department of Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He is a maxillofacial surgeon specializing in head and neck oncologic surgery and microvascular reconstruction.
Dr. Ettinger’s clinical interests in surgical innovation encompass using image-based tumor modeling, virtual surgical planning, 3D printing, and patient-specific implants to improve patient outcomes in head and neck oncology and reconstruction.
Dr. Ettinger has published numerous manuscripts on leveraging virtual surgical planning and 3D printing to provide individualized surgery for patients. He has a keen interest in developing the future of this technology to incorporate augmented reality applications into daily surgical practice. He has developed several novel applications for virtual surgical planning and guided surgery that have been adopted by industry and are currently employed in modern standard-of-care reconstructive workflows. Dr. Ettinger is also heavily involved in clinical research and is the Mayo Clinic Principal Investigator of a multi-institutional phase II/III cooperative group clinical trial evaluating sentinel lymph node biopsy versus elective neck dissection in early-stage oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.
Dr. Ettinger is the Director of Innovation within the Department of Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Together with Dr. Cornelius Thiels, Associate Chair of Innovation, they lead the department's innovation efforts to bring together partners in industry, venture capital, large strategics, and startups with the goals of fostering product co-development, product commercialization, first in human trials, and novel technology adoption within the broader Mayo surgical ecosystem.
Their work culminates annually in the Department of Surgery's Beahrs Surgical Innovation Summit, where industry leaders have the unique opportunity to interface directly with Mayo Clinic’s expert surgical clinicians, eager to collaborate and shape the future of surgical healthcare delivery.