Ricardo Terra MD, PhD, MPH

Ricardo M. Terra, MD, Ph.D., MPH is an associate professor of Thoracic Surgery at the University of Sao Paulo Medical School and chief of the Surgical Thoracic Oncology Division at Sao Paulo Cancer Institute. His fields of interest are thoracic oncology, minimally invasive surgery, and clinical research.

He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Sao Paulo, where he finished medical school (M.D) in 1999. Then, he completed the residency program in General Surgery and Thoracic Surgery in 2004 at Hospital das Clinicas, the University of Sao Paulo Medical School teaching hospital. He stayed there for one more year as chief resident and was eventually hired as a staff surgeon in 2006. Since then he has been attending to patients, teaching residents, and developing clinical research projects. In 2008, he was awarded a Ph.D. degree in science at the University of Sao Paulo, and in 2012 a Master's degree at Harvard University. In 2010 he was assigned as the chief of Thoracic Surgery at Sao Paulo Cancer Institute, a new institution dedicated to the care of cancer patients and affiliated with the University of Sao Paulo Medical School. In 2013, he got the position of assistant professor of thoracic surgery at the University of Sao Paulo Medical School, being promoted to associate professor in 2015.

During these last 14 years at the University of Sao Paulo, his greatest accomplishments include:- reinforcing the minimally invasive program, bringing new procedures such as thoracoscopic lobectomy and robotic surgery;- pushing forward clinical research, particularly in thoracic oncology;- setting up a database and a surgical quality program, improving outcomes of patients who undergo thoracic surgery due to lung cancer or lung metastasis. Apart from his academic position, he has his own private clinical practice that focuses on thoracic oncology and minimally invasive surgery.