Papers
6
Total Citations
210
H-Index
5
About
Dr. Laura Flores is a leading voice in minimally invasive and robotic-assisted surgery, with a research portfolio that bridges clinical outcomes, health economics, and futuristic surgical technology. Her most impactful work, including a 2019 national database review with 63 citations, has fundamentally challenged the status quo by demonstrating that minimally invasive inguinal hernia repair is superior to open surgery. She further solidified this paradigm in a 2020 study (45 citations) showing the same advantage for hiatal hernia repair, even in emergent settings. Dr. Flores is also a critical evaluator of surgical innovation; her 2019 analysis (42 citations) confirmed that robot-assisted cholecystectomy is safe but flagged its significant cost burden, providing essential data for hospital decision-making. Beyond Earth-bound surgery, Dr. Flores is pioneering the next frontier. Her visionary 2020 work on emerging robotic technology (49 citations) tracks the progression toward surgical microbots, and her recent 2021 research ventures into autonomous robotic surgery for lunar and expeditionary missions, including work supported by the U.S. Space Force. By combining rigorous database analysis with forward-looking engineering, Dr. Flores is shaping both the current standard of care and the future of surgical robotics.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 2Emerging surgical robotic technology: a progression toward microbots49 citations · 2020
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