Joel Leroy

Joël Leroy was born on December 18, 1949. A graduate of the Medical University of Lille, Lille, France, he completed his residency in digestive surgery at the University Hospital of Lille. In 1979, he was appointed Chief of the Department of General, Visceral and Digestive Surgery in a private surgical hospital in Bully les Mines, France. Toward the end of the 1980s, he participated in the development of gynecologic laparoscopic surgery. In 1991, he created and developed the first successful surgical division of minimally-invasive surgery specializing in colorectal surgery in France. In 1997, he was nominated Associate Professor of Digestive Surgery at the University of Lille, Lille, France. He is recognized worldwide as an innovative pioneer in the field of laparoscopic digestive surgery. He has been an expert contributor in the development of IRCAD/EITS (Institut de Recherche contre les Cancers de l'Appareil Digestif/Institute for Research into Cancer of the Digestive System) since its creation in 1994. In 1998, he became the Co-Director of IRCAD/EITS, and he was a key participant in the development of the Lindbergh Telesurgery Project, where his pivotal contribution was in the standardization of the ZEUS robotic surgical system assisted laparoscopic cholecystectomy.