Boris Schlenker

About

Boris Schlenker is a urological surgeon and clinical researcher whose work bridges two interconnected domains: minimally invasive urological oncology and the science of surgical safety in robotic-assisted procedures. His early contributions focused on stereotactic radiosurgery for renal tumors, demonstrating that single-fraction robotic radiosurgery could offer a viable nephron-sparing alternative for select patients with renal cell carcinoma, work that has garnered over 100 citations and influenced the management of patients unsuitable for conventional surgery. Schlenker has also pioneered technically demanding reconstructive procedures, including robotic re-pyeloplasty in horseshoe kidneys with failed prior repairs. A significant thread of his research examines how intraoperative flow disruptions affect surgical team performance, mental workload, and patient safety in robotic-assisted surgery — studies collectively cited over 135 times. His development and validation of RAS-NOTECHS, a dedicated tool for measuring non-technical skills in robotic surgical teams, represents a meaningful advance in surgical quality assessment. More recently, Schlenker has investigated resilience strategies that OR teams employ during high-risk operative moments. Together, his contributions span both clinical outcomes and the human factors shaping modern robotic surgery, making him a distinctive voice at the intersection of urology and patient safety science.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Single Fraction Radiosurgery for the Treatment of Renal Tumors

   100 citations · 2014
2. 2
   Effects of Flow Disruptions on Mental Workload and Surgical Performance in Robotic‐Assisted Surgery

   75 citations · 2018
3. 3
   Associations of Intraoperative Flow Disruptions and Operating Room Teamwork During Robotic-assisted Radical Prostatectomy

   61 citations · 2018
4. 4
   RAS-NOTECHS: validity and reliability of a tool for measuring non-technical skills in robotic-assisted surgery settings

   36 citations · 2021
5. 5
   Occurrence of symptomatic lymphocele after open and robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

   8 citations · 2021
6. 6
   An innovative technique of robotic-assisted/laparoscopic re-pyeloplasty in horseshoe kidney in patients with failed previous pyeloplasty for ureteropelvic junction obstruction

   8 citations · 2015
7. 7
   Operating room team strategies to reduce flow disruptions in high-risk task episodes: resilience in robot-assisted surgery

   7 citations · 2022
8. 8
   Associations of flow disruptions with patient, staff, and process outcomes: a prospective observational study of robotic-assisted radical prostatectomies

   6 citations · 2023
9. 9
   Aktuelle Kontroversen in der Therapie des lokal begrenzten Prostatakarzinoms

   2 citations · 2019
10. 10
    Single-fraction radiosurgery for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma.

    2 citations · 2016

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links