Fernando J. Bianco, MD

Dr. Fernando J. Bianco is an inventor, entrepreneur, urologic oncologist, robotic surgeon, and clinical investigator whose twenty-plus-year career has combined direct patient care, device and procedural innovation, and sustained clinical trials leadership. As Investigator-in-Chief of the Urological Research Network (URN) in Miami, he has built one of the few community-based urology research infrastructures in the country capable of running multiple registered, FDA-overseen interventional trials concurrently — work derived from his patented methods (U.S. Patent Nos. 11,583,655 B2, issued February 21, 2023, and 12,521,516 B2, issued January 13, 2026, both titled System and Method for Prostate Treatment Under Local Anesthesia that has directly expanded office-based, local-anesthesia treatment options for prostate cancer.

He is an innovative urologic oncologist and robotic surgeon who has conducted more than twenty-five randomized clinical trials, remaining committed to the best care options for his patients. Notable trials include:

•      NCT02381990 — Fusion Image (MRI/US)-Guided Cryotherapy of the Prostate, which has accrued over 3,230 patients since 2013. Dr. Bianco is the inventor of the underlying system and methods (U.S. Patent Nos. 11,583,655 B2 and 12,521,516 B2), which use image fusion and predictive modeling for the management of prostate cancer under local anesthesia and form the basis of the Focalyx paradigm.

•      NCT04760483 — Office-Based Transperineal Laser Ablation for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, an evolution of his surgical techniques applied to benign prostatic disease.

•      NCT05241236 — MRI/Ultrasound Fusion-Guided Laser Ablation of Prostate Cancer.

•      NCT05218811 — Cryoablation-Assisted Partial Nephrectomy: A Non-Ischemic Approach, evaluating cryoablation as a substitute for arterial clamping during robotic partial nephrectomy.

•      NCT01371994 — the first Level 1 evidence study of urinary continence outcomes after robotic prostatectomy, on which Dr. Bianco served as investigator and lead author, published in the Journal of Urology (2015).

•      NCT02080689 — PRO-IMPACT, a molecular profiling study of prostate cancer for short-term dissemination risk, supported by the Society of Urological Oncology Clinical Trials Consortium, on which Dr. Bianco served as lead scientist.

These research programs have produced published, peer-reviewed outcomes data, including:

•      Natural History of Patients Undergoing Transperineal Fusion Biopsies to Transperineal Fusion Cryoablation: 5-Year Outcomes — Journal of Endourology (2025), reporting long-term results of the Fusion Image-Guided Cryotherapy program.

•      Transperineal MR Fusion Laser Ablation of Prostate Cancer in Office Setting: 1-Year Efficacy and Safety Outcomes in Intermediate-Risk Patients — Journal of Endourology (2025).

•      mpMRI-US Fusion-Guided Targeted Cryotherapy in Patients with Primary Localized Prostate Cancer: A Prospective Analysis of Oncological and Functional Outcomes — Cancers (2022).

Other important contributions by Dr. Bianco include the characterization of PSA response to androgen deprivation therapy after surgery; the association between testosterone levels and prostate cancer; and the impact of surgeon experience on prostate cancer survival and morbidity outcomes. These investigations earned him recognition for Best Studies from the Society of Urological Oncology, presented at the American Urological Association's Annual Meetings in 2006 and 2007.

Throughout his career, Dr. Bianco has held prestigious faculty positions. Upon completing his fellowship in Urologic Oncology and Laparoscopic Surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City — where he was a Scholar of the American Urological Association Care Foundation (2003–2005) and the Koch and Albritton Foundations Scholar for Prostate Cancer (2005–2006) — he moved to Washington, DC, to serve as Chief of Urologic Oncology in the Department of Urology at The George Washington University.

Dr. Bianco relocated to South Florida in 2008, serving as Associate Professor of Urology at Columbia University in New York City and as Founder and Director of the Columbia University Division of Urology, as well as Director of Robotic Surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach. In 2011, he co-founded the Robotic Surgery Program at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables, Florida. His work has been recognized by the urological community, with honors from the American Urological Association, the Society of Urological Oncology, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He serves on the review panel and editorial board of numerous publications, including the Journal of Urology, Urologic Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Urology, Cancer, Lancet Oncology, and European Urology, where he served as a member of the Editorial Board-at-Large.