Timothy B. Lautz, MD

I am an academic pediatric surgeon with a clinical and research focus on the subspeciality of pediatric surgical oncology and an interest in clinical innovation. My clinical background, coupled with extensive experience in collaborative, multi-institutional studies and prospective clinical trial design make me ideally suited for the proposed research.

I am a co-principal investigator at the Pediatric Devices, Innovations, and Advances in Surgery (PEDIA-SURG) research group. I am also an active member of the Children’s Oncology Group, where I serve on both the Soft Tissue Sarcoma and Bone Tumor committees. My work on these committees involves clinical trial development, central review of surgical forms, and data analysis for publications on surgical aims. I am also a founding member of the Pediatric Surgical Oncology Research Collaborative, which is a collaborative effort of pediatric surgical oncologists from over 50 North American institutions committed to multi-institutional research in this field. I have authored over 100 peer reviewed publications, including high-impact studies in journals such as Cancer, Annals of Surgery, JAMA Surgery, Pediatric Blood and Cancer, and the International Journal of Cancer. The majority of these publications have involved collaborative, multi-institutional investigation.

Advancing the care of children with rhabdomyosarcoma and osteosarcoma is a cornerstone of both my clinical and academic work. I am vice-chair of a phase III randomized trial through Children’s Oncology Group comparing survival outcomes between thoracotomy and thoracoscopy for osteosarcoma with pulmonary metastatic disease. I am also a surgical study member on the current Children’s Oncology Group high-risk protocol for rhabdomyosarcoma.

My research has also focused on surgical innovation including robotic surgery and fluorescence guided surgery. I have published on the utility of near-infrared imaging with indocyanine green for detecting tumor metastases. I am currently helping to lead a multi-institutional consortium study on this topic. I am also currently the principal investigator at the only pediatric site participating in an industry-sponsored phase III study of a novel fluorescent agent for detecting the ureter during surgery.