Dr. Wickii Thambiah Vigneswaran

About Wickii Thambiah Vigneswaran

Accolades

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  Pleural and Lung Cancer

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  Pericardial Mesothelioma

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  Mesothelioma Pioneer

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  Team Leader

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  30+ Years of Experience

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  Robotic Surgery

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  Board Certified in Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery

Vigneswaran previously was professor of surgery, associate chief of cardiac and thoracic surgery, as well as director of the Lung and Heart-Lung Transplantation Division at the University of Chicago Medical Center, which U.S. News & World Report ranked as No. 15 cancer treatment in the nation.

A pioneer in the fields of minimally invasive, robot- and video-assisted thoracic surgery, Vigneswaran treats patients with advanced malignant diseases like lung cancer and mesothelioma.

After receiving his medical degree, he then completed internships in the United Kingdom at Kinston General Hospital and Darlington Memorial Hospital. Multiple residencies in England and Scotland followed, as well as several fellowships in the United Kingdom and the United States. He has practiced at the Children’s Hospital in Denver, the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Quick Fact:

Vigneswaran received his medical degree in 1978 from the University of Sri Lanka.

In 2005, Vigneswaran and his lung transplant team moved to the University of Chicago Medical Center from the Loyola University Medical Center, where he has had previously served as chief of thoracic surgery, director of lung and heart-lung transplantation and co-director of thoracic oncology since 1998. Prior to that, he was director of thoracic surgery, heart and lung transplantation and lung-volume-reduction surgery at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center.

Team-Based Approach

Vigneswaran strongly advocates multidisciplinary and team-based approaches to disease management. As a member of the University of Chicago Medical Center’s Mesothelioma Program, he worked in collaboration with physicians in pulmonary medicine, medical and radiation oncology, radiology, immunology, transplant biology, pathology and other specialties. His expertise in the surgical management of mesothelioma was vital to that program’s success.

He leads several medical organizations, including the International College of Surgeons and the American College of Chest Physicians. He is certified in cardiothoracic surgery and is a fellow of surgical and medical societies in Scotland, England, Canada and the United States. His fellowships include the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians of Canada, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Chest Physicians and the Royal Society of Medicine.

Vigneswaran has authored more than 85 articles and book chapters and serves on the editorial review boards of several highly acclaimed medical journals, including the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, American Review of Respiratory Disease, American Journal of Transplantation, International Surgery, Chest, Clinical Investigation, Journal of Surgical Research and the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation.

In 2010, he edited a comprehensive lung transplantation book covering everything from the history of the lung transplant program to the procedure’s long term effects.

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Vigneswaran’s Publications

Published in Academic Radiology, “Quantitative Measurement of Lung Re-expansion in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Patients Undergoing Pleurectomy/Decortication” explained the effectiveness of this procedure for patients with mesothelioma.