Positions

Overview

  • Dr. Benjamin Wei is currently an assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University before continuing onto Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons where he received his medical degree in 2005. Following medical school, he completed an internship and residency in general surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia from 2005-2010 and a cardiothoracic fellowship at Duke University from 2010-2013. He came to the University of Alabama at Birmingham in August of 2013. Dr. Wei has a particular interested in surgical education. He has helped develop multiple resources for cardiothoracic and surgical trainees, including a leading general surgery oral board review book and the Thoracic Surgical Residents Association (TSR) Journal Club app.
    Dr. Wei specializes in robotic-assisted and video-assisted thoracic surgery, lung and esophageal cancer surgery, surgery for gastroesophageal reflux disease, paraesophageal hernias and also esophageal motility disorders. His other areas of expertise include chest wall reconstruction for pectus excavatum/carinatum, and lung transplantation.

    • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2021 Commentary: Embryonic Thoughts About CEA and Lung Transplant.  Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  33:616-617. 2021
    2021 Commentary: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tracheostomies—The “how” but not the “why” or “when” 2021
    2021 Commentary: Fontan physiology and special consideration for lobectomy 2021
    2021 Navigational Bronchoscopy with Interventional Pulmonologists and Thoracic Surgeons.  Innovations:Technology and Techniques in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery.  16:117-122. 2021
    2021 Commentary: Sublobar resection for in situ and minimally invasive adenocarcinoma—Less is more.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  2021
    2020 Commentary: Basilar segmentectomy: A new weapon against cancer for the modern thoracic surgeon?.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  160:1595-1596. 2020
    2020 Commonwealth Neuroendocrine Tumour Research Collaboration and the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Patients With Lung Neuroendocrine Tumors: An International Collaborative Endorsement and Update of the 2015 European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society Expert Consensus Guidelines.  Journal of Thoracic Oncology.  15:1577-1598. 2020
    2020 Mechanical or chemical and mechanical pleurodesis for spontaneous pneumothorax: What is the most effective approach in preventing recurrence? A systematic review and meta-analysis.  European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery.  58:682-691. 2020
    2020 Reasons for extended length of stay following chest tube removal in general thoracic surgical patients.  Journal of thoracic disease.  12:5700-5708. 2020
    2020 Commentary: Lung surgery in the time of COVID-19.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  160:e97-e98. 2020
    2020 Commentary: Let's get rich—The use of hydrogen-rich solution for lung preservation.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  159:2119-2120. 2020
    2020 Commentary: Proving the benefit of pulmonary metastasectomy for relapsed osteosarcoma—to the next hard target?.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  2020
    2019 Commentary: Will it go platinum? Microcoil localization as an adjunct to thoracoscopic wedge resection.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  158:603. 2019
    2019 The Difficult Esophageal Conduit.  Surgical Clinics of North America.  99:471-478. 2019
    2019 Robotic Morgagni hernia repair: an emerging approach to a congenital defect.  Journal of Robotic Surgery.  13:309-313. 2019
    2019 Commentary: Going the distance: The effect of margin length on local recurrence after wedge resection for colorectal metastases.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  157:1656-1657. 2019
    2019 Electromagnetic Navigation Bronchoscopy for Peripheral Pulmonary Lesions: One-Year Results of the Prospective, Multicenter NAVIGATE Study.  Journal of Thoracic Oncology.  14:445-458. 2019
    2019 Certification for minimally invasive thoracic surgery: Is your surgeon ready?.  Journal of thoracic disease.  11:S1145-S1146. 2019
    2019 Incremental value of three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography over the two-dimensional modality in the assessment of right heart compression and dysfunction produced by pectus excavatum 2019
    2018 Sternotomy for esophagectomy: Is it worth the risk?.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  156:e221-e222. 2018
    2018 Carbon fiber: Not just for your mountain bike anymore.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  156:e181-e182. 2018
    2018 Behcet's Syndrome: Fear Not the Unknown.  Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  30:379-380. 2018
    2018 Technical and operational modifications required for evolving robotic programs performing anatomic pulmonary resection.  Journal of Robotic Surgery.  12:529-534. 2018
    2018 Lung cancer screening, version 3.2018 2018
    2017 Cost Savings of Standardization of Thoracic Surgical Instruments: The Process of Lean.  Annals of Thoracic Surgery.  104:1889-1895. 2017
    2017 Robotic Lobectomy and Segmentectomy: Technical Details and Results.  Surgical Clinics of North America.  97:771-782. 2017
    2017 The value of salvage surgery after stereotactic body radiotherapy failure: A sticky conundrum.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  154:700-701. 2017
    2017 That's one small step….  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  153:1608. 2017
    2017 Achieving a 3-Star Society of Thoracic Surgery Lobectomy Ranking by Using Continuing Process Improvement, Lean Methodology, and Root Cause Analysis.  Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  29:550-557. 2017
    2017 Is the Glass Half Full or Empty? Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy in an Age of Alternative Facts.  Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  29:254-255. 2017
    2016 Structured training strategy for robot surgery 2016
    2016 Robotic lobectomy can be taught while maintaining quality patient outcomes.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  152:991-997. 2016
    2016 Incidence, Results, and Our Current Intraoperative Technique to Control Major Vascular Injuries During Minimally Invasive Robotic Thoracic Surgery.  Annals of Thoracic Surgery.  102:394-399. 2016
    2016 One hundred planned robotic segmentectomies: Early results, technical details, and preferred port placement presented at the sixty-second annual meeting of the southern thoracic surgical Association, Orlando, FL, Nov 4-7, 2015..  Annals of Thoracic Surgery.  101:1089-1096. 2016
    2016 Robotic Lobectomy: Left Upper Lobectomy.  Operative Techniques in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  21:230-248. 2016
    2016 Robotic Esophagectomy for Cancer: Early Results and Lessons Learned.  Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  28:160-169. 2016
    2016 Clinical pathway for thoracic surgery in the United States.  Journal of thoracic disease.  8:S29-S36. 2016
    2016 Extended criteria donors: Closer to the truth.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  152:899-900. 2016
    2016 Lung torsion: Some answers but more questions.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  152:658. 2016
    2016 Robotic Lung Resection for Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer.  Surgical Oncology Clinics of North America.  25:515-531. 2016
    2016 Robotic surgery for posterior mediastinal pathology.  Annals of cardiothoracic surgery.  5:62-64. 2016
    2015 Left upper lobectomy after coronary artery bypass grafting.  Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.  150:531-535. 2015
    2015 Resident perceptions of 2-year versus 3-year cardiothoracic training programs.  Annals of Thoracic Surgery.  99:2070-2076. 2015
    2015 Retention rate of electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopic placed fiducial markers for lung radiosurgery.  Annals of Thoracic Surgery.  100:1163-1166. 2015
    2014 Performing robotic lobectomy and segmentectomy: Cost, profitability, and outcomes.  Annals of Thoracic Surgery.  98:203-209. 2014
    2014 The efficacy of restaging endobronchial ultrasound in patients with non-small cell lung cancer after preoperative therapy.  Annals of Thoracic Surgery.  98:1008-1012. 2014
    2014 The incidence and management of postoperative chylothorax after pulmonary resection and thoracic mediastinal lymph node dissection.  Annals of Thoracic Surgery.  98:232-237. 2014
    2014 The safety and efficacy of mediastinoscopy when performed by general thoracic surgeons.  Annals of Thoracic Surgery.  97:1878-1884. 2014
    2014 Thoracoscopic versus robotic approaches: Advantages and disadvantages.  Thoracic Surgery Clinics.  24:177-188. 2014

    Chapter

    Year Title Altmetric
    2017 Robotic approach to lobectomy.  193-204. 2017

    Education And Training

  • Doctor of Medicine, Columbia University 2005
  • New York Presbyterian, Internship 2006
  • Duke University Medical Center, Residency 2013
  • New York Presbyterian, Residency 2010

    • Full Name

  • Benjamin Wei