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About

Dr. Ashley J. McCormack is a pioneering thoracic surgeon whose research focuses on enhancing recovery after robotic lung and thymus surgery. Her major contributions center on minimizing patient morbidity by challenging the routine use of chest tubes. Through a series of quality improvement studies, she has demonstrated that chest tubes can be safely removed within 4 to 12 hours after robotic lobectomy and segmentectomy, and even eliminated entirely after robotic thymectomy—practices that significantly reduce pain and hospital stay. Her most cited work, including papers on discharging patients home with digital chest tube systems (6 citations) and the safety of early tube removal (6 citations), has garnered attention for its patient-centered innovation. Notably, her creative "ice cream in the recovery room" study (2 citations) uses a simple dietary intervention to rule out chylothorax, enabling same-day chest tube removal. Dr. McCormack’s largest single-surgeon series of over 1,700 consecutive robotic cases (2025) underscores her commitment to process improvement and sets a new benchmark for quality in minimally invasive thoracic surgery. Her work is reshaping postoperative care standards, making recovery faster and less painful for patients.