Associate Professor and Attending Surgeon. Department of Surgery, Division of Urology. McGill University. Montréal, Quebec. Canada

Rafael Sanchez-Salas is a surgeon and clinician scientist with a main interest in minimally invasive treatments in Urological Oncology. He is an established leader in the emerging field of Focal Therapy for the treatment of Localized Prostate Cancer. Dr. Sanchez-Salas earned his Medical degree from the Universidad de los Andes in Mérida, Venezuela; He was Valedictorian of the Class of 1998.  He completed his basic Surgical and Urological training at Universidad Central de Venezuela in 2005.

He was awarded with Scholarships from Confederation Americana de Urologia and The European Association of Urology to pursue fellowship training in urological oncology  and minimally invasive urological surgery at  Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the United States,  Clinica Santa Maria in Chile and L’Institut Mutualiste Montsouris in France, where after his training  he joined their  Faculty in 2008 and until 2021. During his time in Paris, Dr. Sanchez-Salas worked extensively on robotic surgery and the development of partial gland ablation for Prostate Cancer treatment. He was responsible for the fellowship program organization at L’Institut Mutualiste Montsouris and actively participated in mentoring and training several young urological surgeons.  

Dr. Sanchez Salas currently works at the Division of Urology at McGill University, focusing mainly on  Localized Prostate Cancer and minimally invasive surgery research. His current research priorities include Focal Therapy for Prostate Cancer and its impact on prostatic microenvironment and outcomes.  He Chaired the SIU-International Consultation on Urological Disease on Image-guided Prostate and Renal Carcinomas therapy in 2015.