Welcome to the Surgical Innovation Program in the Department of Surgery at NYU Langone. This program is at the forefront of facilitating innovative thinking and promoting unique opportunities to advance and develop new surgical techniques and technologies. We strive to improve outcomes through innovative and tangible improvements in surgical care, ensuring longer, healthier lives for our patients.

Our Mission

Our mission is to cultivate a culture of innovation in Department of Surgery faculty and trainees, equipping them with the unique mindset and skills to bring groundbreaking ideas to fruition. These are the goals of our program:

• advise and mentor
• highlight and promote
• educate
• foster a community of collaboration

Our program is led by Insoo Suh, MD, vice chair of surgical innovation and an expert in scarless thyroidectomy, and Robert Montgomery, MD, DPhil, chair of the Department of Surgery, who has conducted groundbreaking xenotransplantation work. Learn more about our program leadership.

Surgical Innovation Program Education

The Surgical Innovation Program is grounded in its mission to educate faculty and trainees and provide them with the resources and mentorship necessary to transform ideas into medical technology innovations. Program leadership serves as a team of mentors to anyone interested in discussing their project ideas or needing connections in the medtech and surgical innovation sphere. In addition, we have a quarterly innovation didactics curriculum for surgical trainees.

MedTech Pipeline Program

The yearlong MedTech Pipeline Program, open to NYU Grossman School of Medicine students and NYU Langone postgraduate trainees, is designed to guide learners through a structured process in medical technology innovation, from initial ideation to market-ready solutions. The program is divided into three phases, with specific deadlines and educational milestones. Trainees receive guidance from faculty mentors, participate in quarterly teaching sessions, and meet regularly. Trainees are expected to demonstrate significant independent learning and self-directed progress, taking initiative in their projects while actively seeking and applying feedback from their team mentors to drive their innovations forward. This program is voluntary and designed as a rewarding extracurricular opportunity, not as part of the official curriculum.

All aspects, including scheduled events and lectures, are intended to complement, not interfere with, primary responsibilities, including coursework or clinical training. Applications for the program are accepted from May 1 to July 1, and the program runs from September through May. Interested students and trainees can email Ariana.Akkaya@NYULangone.org for more information.

MedTech Summer Internship

The MedTech Summer Internship is a summerlong program designed to provide students with hands-on exposure to medical technology development and the innovation process. Interns contribute to advancing ongoing projects within the MedTech Pipeline Program and other departmental innovation initiatives, supporting teams as they advance technologies from early concepts toward practical solutions. Through this experience, students gain insight into the stages of medtech innovation, including identifying a problem, prototyping, clinical integration, and pathways to commercialization, while collaborating with faculty, trainees, and multidisciplinary teams across the NYU Langone medtech ecosystem. The program is open to college-level students and above who have a dedicated interest in medicine, engineering, business or medtech innovation. Those interested can email a personal statement and CV to Ariana.Akkaya@NYULangone.org.

Partners and Resources

The Surgical Innovation Program has built a collaborative community of partners that serve as valuable resources for faculty and trainees looking to address unmet clinical needs through a medical technology lens:

• NYU Technology Opportunities and Ventures
• Tech4Health Institute
• NYU Tandon School of Engineering Future Labs

Contact Us

For more information or ways to get involved in the Surgical Innovation Program, contact Dr. Suh at Insoo.Suh@NYULangone.org or Ariana Akkaya, program manager, at Ariana.Akkaya@NYULangone.org.