Raj Satkunasivam, MD, MS, FRCSC

Associate Professor of Urology, Academic Institute
Associate Clinical Member, Research Institute
Houston Methodist
Weill Cornell Medical College


Biography

Dr. Raj Satkunasivam is a fellowship-trained urologic oncologist with a focus on minimally invasive and robotic approaches to the treatment of genito-urinary malignancies. His practice includes minimally invasive and robotic surgical techniques for kidney, bladder, prostate, adrenal and testicular cancers. He is the Director of Advanced Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery at the Houston Methodist Institute for Technology, Innovation, and Education (MITIE).

Dr. Satkunasivam received his medical degree from the University of Toronto and completed his urology residency also at the University of Toronto. He pursued sub-specialty fellowship training in urologic oncology, advanced robotic and laparoscopic surgery at the University of Southern California, where he developed novel techniques for robotic kidney-sparing surgery (partial nephrectomy) and robotic bladder cancer surgery with entirely robotic (intra-corporeal) urinary reconstruction.

Description of Research

Prior to joining Houston Methodist Hospital, Dr. Satkunasivam was an Assistant Professor and Surgeon Investigator at the University of Toronto's Odette Cancer Center at Sunnybrook Hospital. He holds a Master of Science in Health Services Research from the Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California. His research is focused on the clinical epidemiology of genito-urinary malignancies, specifically in identifying novel risk factors, improving individualized risk assessment and in assessing the comparative effectiveness of treatments. His research also examines outcomes and quality of surgical care, and novel strategies to improve the care of complex surgical patients. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Houston Methodist Academic Institute and a Health Services Researcher in the Center for Outcomes Research at Houston Methodist Hospital.

Areas Of Expertise

Urologic oncology
Publications

Open vs. robot-assisted radical cystectomy with extracorporeal or intracorporeal urinary diversion for bladder cancer: A pairwise meta-analysis of outcomes and a network meta-analysis of complications by urinary diversion approach
Riveros, C, Ranganathan, S, Nipper, C, Lim, K, Brooks, M, Dursun, F, Miles, BJ, Goh, A, Desai, M, Klaassen, Z, Kulkarni, GS, Wallis, CJD & Satkunasivam, R 2023, , Journal of the Canadian Urological Association, vol. 17, no. 3. https://doi.org/10.5489/cuaj.8096

Comparative real-world survival outcomes of metastatic papillary and clear cell renal cell carcinoma treated with immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and combination therapy
Riveros, C, Ranganathan, S, Xu, J, Chang, C, Kaushik, D, Morgan, M, Miles, BJ, Muhammad, T, Anis, M, Aghazadeh, M, Zhang, J, Efstathiou, E, Klaassen, Z, Brooks, MA, Rini, B, Wallis, CJD & Satkunasivam, R 2023, , Urologic Oncology: Seminars and Original Investigations, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 150.e1-150.e9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urolonc.2022.11.022

Prognostic impact of biologically equivalent dose in stereotactic body radiotherapy for renal cancer
Tran, KT, Chevli, NC, Messer, JA, Haque, W, Farach, AM, Satkunasivam, R, Zhang, J, Darcourt, J, Lo, SS, Siva, S, Butler, EB & Teh, BS 2023, , Clinical and Translational Radiation Oncology, vol. 39, 100592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctro.2023.100592

Robotic Versus Open Cystectomy for Bladder Cancer: Synthesizing the Data from Current Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
Aminoltejari, K, Hird, AE, Klaassen, Z, Satkunasivam, R, Kulkarni, GS, Luckenbaugh, AN, Laviana, AA, Wallis, CJD & Clark, R 2023, , Annals of Surgical Oncology. https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-022-12692-w

Morbidity and mortality of multivisceral resection with radical nephrectomy for locally advanced renal cell carcinoma: An analysis of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database
Lim, K, Riveros, C, Ranganathan, S, Xu, J, Patel, A, Slawin, J, Ordonez, A, Aghazadeh, M, Morgan, M, Miles, BJ, Esnaola, N, Klaassen, Z, Allenson, K, Brooks, M, Wallis, CJD & Satkunasivam, R 2023, , Urologic Oncology: Seminars and Original Investigations. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urolonc.2023.01.003

The Association between Serum Albumin and Post-Operative Outcomes among Patients Undergoing Common Surgical Procedures: An Analysis of a Multi-Specialty Surgical Cohort from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP)
Nipper, CA, Lim, K, Riveros, C, Hsu, E, Ranganathan, S, Xu, J, Brooks, M, Esnaola, N, Klaassen, Z, Jerath, A, Arrington, A, Wallis, CJD & Satkunasivam, R 2022, , Journal of Clinical Medicine, vol. 11, no. 21, 6543. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11216543

A phase II clinical trial of neoadjuvant sasanlimab and stereotactic body radiation therapy as an in situ vaccine for cisplatin-ineligible MIBC: The RAD VACCINE MIBC trial
Satkunasivam, R, Lim, K, Teh, BS, Guzman, J, Zhang, J, Farach, A, Chen, SH, Wallis, CJD, Efstathiou, E, Esnaola, NF & Sonpavde, GP 2022, , Future Oncology, vol. 18, no. 25, pp. 2771-2781. https://doi.org/10.2217/fon-2022-0380

Localized prostate cancer: An analysis of the CDC Breast and Prostate Cancer Data Quality and Patterns of Care study (CDC PoC-BP)
Celtik, K, Wallis, CJD, Lo, M, Lim, K, Lipscomb, J, Fleming, S, Wu, XC, Anderson, RT, Thompson, TD, Farach, A, Hamilton, AS, Miles, BJ & Satkunasivam, R 2022, , Journal of the Canadian Urological Association, vol. 16, no. 7. https://doi.org/10.5489/cuaj.7580

Association Between Surgeon and Anesthesiologist Sex Discordance and Postoperative Outcomes: A Population-based Cohort Study
Wallis, CJD, Jerath, A, Kaneshwaran, K, Hallet, J, Coburn, N, Wright, FC, Conn, LG, Bischof, D, Covelli, A, Klaassen, Z, Zlotta, AR, Kulkarni, GS, Luckenbaugh, AN, Armstrong, K, Lim, K, Bass, B, Detsky, AS & Satkunasivam, R 2022, , Annals of surgery, vol. 276, no. 1, pp. 81-87. https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000005495

Association Between Perioperative Chemotherapy and Survival in Men Undergoing Radical Resection for Primary Urethral Urothelial Carcinoma: An Analysis of the National Cancer Database
Celtik, K, Lim, K, Dursun, F, Xu, J, Klaassen, Z, Zhang, J, Efstathiou, E, Sonpavde, G, Wallis, C & Satkunasivam, R 2022, , Clinical Genitourinary Cancer, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 244-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clgc.2022.01.011

Comments on Surgeon-Patient Sex Concordance and Postoperative Outcomes-Reply
Wallis, CJD, Jerath, A & Satkunasivam, R 2022, , JAMA Surgery, vol. 157, no. 7, pp. 639-640. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2022.0297

Clinical outcomes and patterns of population-based management of urachal carcinoma of the bladder: An analysis of the National Cancer Database
Dursun, F, Lim, K, Svatek, RS, Xu, J, El-Zaatari, ZM, Wenker, EP, Klaassen, ZW, Mansour, AM, Muhammad, T, Efstathiou, E, Sonpavde, GP, Wallis, CJD & Satkunasivam, R 2022, , Cancer Medicine, vol. 11, no. 22, pp. 4273-4282. https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.4786

Association between isolated abnormal coagulation profile on transfusion following major surgery: A NSQIP analysis of individuals without bleeding disorders
Lim, K, Satkunasivam, R, Nipper, C, Xu, J, Hsu, E, Slawin, JR, Roy, T, Allenson, KC, Kim, MP, Barber, SM, Ellis, T, Akinsola, O, Klaassen, Z, Esnaola, N, Ravi, B, Jerath, A & Wallis, CJD 2022, , Transfusion. https://doi.org/10.1111/trf.17146

A feasibility study of utilizing a cadaveric training model for novel robotic bladder cancer brachytherapy techniques
Patel, A, Orakwue, CW, Olek, D, Guzman, JCA, Lim, K, Pino, R, Teh, BS, Butler, B, Satkunasivam, R & Farach, A 2023, , Brachytherapy, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 195-198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brachy.2022.08.014

Prognostic Impact of Biologically Equivalent Dose in Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Renal Cancer
Tran, KT, Chevli, NC, Messer, JA, Haque, W, Farach, AM, Satkunasivam, R, Zhang, J, Darcourt, J, Lo, SS, Siva, S, Butler, EB & Teh, BS 2021, , International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, vol. 111, no. 3, pp. e262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2021.07.862

DMSA-SPECT: A Novel Approach to Nephron Sparing SBRT for Renal Cell Carcinoma
Chevli, N, Chiang, S, Farach, AM, Haque, W, Satkunasivam, R, Bernicker, EH, Pino, R, Butler, EB & Teh, BS 2021, , Advances in Radiation Oncology, vol. 6, no. 6, 100719. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adro.2021.100719, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adro.2021.100719

DMSA-SPECT: A Novel Approach to Nephron Sparing SBRT for Renal Cell Carcinoma
Chevli, N, Chiang, S, Farach, AM, Haque, W, Satkunasivam, R, Bernicker, EH, Pino, R, Butler, EB & Teh, BS 2021, , Advances in Radiation Oncology, vol. 6, no. 6, 100719. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adro.2021.100719

Dissecting the role of radical cystectomy and urinary diversion in post-operative complications: an analysis using the American College of Surgeons national surgical quality improvement program database
Anaissie, J, Dursun, F, Wallis, CJD, Klaassen, Z, Taylor, J, Obando-Perez, C, Xu, J, Boone, T, Khavari, R & Satkunasivam, R 2021, , International Braz J Urol, vol. 47, no. 5, pp. 1006-1019. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1677-5538.IBJU.2020.1098

Active surveillance in favorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients: Predictors of deferred intervention and treatment choice
Sayyid, RK, Klotz, L, Benton, JZ, Ma, M, Woodruff, P, Satkunasivam, R, Terris, MK, Wallis, CJD & Klaassen, Z 2021, , Journal of the Canadian Urological Association, vol. 16, no. 1, 7272. https://doi.org/10.5489/CUAJ.7272

Utilization and outcomes of metastasectomy for patients with metastatic urothelial cancer: An analysis of the national cancer database
Dursun, F, Mackay, A, Guzman, JCA, Wenker, E, Klaassen, Z, OMalley, P, Bhindi, B, Perez, CO, Xu, J, Roh, T, Sonpavade, G, Wallis, CJD & Satkunasivam, R 2021, , Urologic Oncology: Seminars and Original Investigations. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urolonc.2021.07.015