Originally from Brazil, Flávio is a highly skilled and accomplished urologist who received his education from São Paulo State University. Early on in his career, he found himself drawn to minimally invasive procedures and further developed his passion for robotic surgery and oncology during his time at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, USA.
With his urology training in both Brazil and Australia, Flavio has a wealth of experience and profound expertise in robotic surgery for prostate and kidney cancer alongside stone management with laser. He is a former clinical fellow from the prestigious Royal Adelaide Hospital (2016 and 2017) where he had his robotic surgery training with Andrew Fuller and Peter Sutherland, big names in prostate cancer robotic surgery.
His achievements in the field have not gone unnoticed, as he was granted a Fellowship of the American College of Surgeons in 2022, in addition to being a fully registered urologist in NZ and a member of both RACS and the Medical Council of New Zealand.
Flavio is also a humble but keen researcher and has presented his papers at the most prestigious urological meetings in the world. In 2017 he completed his Masters degree with a research on kidney transplantation. In the same year, that research received the Best Poster in Session prize during the European Urology meeting, in London. He is currently working on developing predictive models for prostate cancer patients.
In Tauranga, Flavio also worked at Tauranga Public Hospital, where he was responsible for introducing a new prostate biopsy modality using a novel device that allows the procedure to be performed under local anesthesia and in a less invasive manner. He also played a key role in phasing out the older transrectal prostate biopsy method, which was associated with high complication rates.
During his initial months in New Zealand, he worked under the supervision of Peter Gilling and Mark Fraundorfer, pioneers of laser surgery for benign prostatic hyperplasia. Under their guidance, he mastered the HoLEP (Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate) technique, adding this advanced tool to his skill set.
His areas of interest include but are not limited to – Transperineal Prostate Biopsy, Prostate Cancer and Robotic Surgery (robotic prostatectomy), Kidney cancer and Robotic Partial Nephrectomy, Stones and laser surgery, Benign Prostatic Growth and HOLEP surgery, Bladder and testicular cancer, small procedures in urology.
Flavio is happy to receive new referrals, including urgent ones.
