Journalists explored IRCAD North America’s state-of-the-art facility during a guided media tour led by surgical and institutional leaders.
On October 29, 2025, IRCAD North America welcomed members of the media for an exclusive tour. Led by Dr. Dionisios Vrochides, executive director of IRCAD North America and professor of transplant surgery at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Dr. Rasu Shrestha, EVP & chief innovation and commercialization officer at Advocate Health and president of the Board at IRCAD North America, the event offered journalists an inside look at the facility, including the main auditorium, surgical ballrooms, and hybrid operating rooms.
During the tour, Dr. Brent Matthews, professor and chair of surgery, Carolinas Medical Center, Atrium Health, president of SAGES, and scientific committee chair at IRCAD NA, highlighted IRCAD North America’s ongoing collaborations with prestigious academic societies such as SAGES, emphasizing the importance of partnership in advancing surgical education and research. Dr. Matthews shared how “Being in a community of thought leaders…allows us to understand not just the first application of a technology, but what’s the second, third, fourth application of this technology.”
Dr. Ansley Ricker, surgery resident at Carolinas Medical Center, Atrium Health, also joined the tour to share her experience as a trainee during the inaugural course at IRCAD NA. She provided valuable insight on the experiential education she received from international experts: “They were actually watching me work and making little tweaks on my operative ability…I took everything that I learned, and the following week I was using those same techniques in the operating room. I feel so much more prepared when I operate on patients, just from the techniques I learned here.”
IRCAD NA had been open for just six weeks at the time of the tour, but already 932 surgeons had been trained at the facility. Commenting on that growth, Dr. Shrestha shared: “What’s fascinating is we brought all these partners together and this ecosystem, and we’ve started to see the magic happen.”
Educating the next generation of healthcare providers is key to the mission of IRCAD NA. Reflecting on this, Dr. Vrochides shared: “They are the ones that shape the future of surgery.”
