Dr. Catherine Mohr is Vice President of Medical Research at Intuitive Surgical, a high technology Silicon Valley based company that makes the da Vinci surgical robot. In this role she is responsible for strategic planning of new developments, identifying key new technologies for incorporation into the robotic platform, and conducting surgical labs to evaluate prototype devices and technologies. In addition, she is a Consulting Assistant Professor in the department of Surgery at Stanford School of Medicine and on the medicine and robotics faculty of Singularity University.
Dr. Mohr received her BS and MS in mechanical engineering from MIT, and has been involved with several startup companies in the areas of alternative energy transportation, computer aided design software, and medical devices. In her early career, she worked for many years with Dr. Paul MacCready at AeroVironment developing alternate energy vehicles, high altitude aircraft, and high efficiency fuel cell power systems aimed at reducing our world’s energy consumption and emissions.
Dr. Mohr then went on to medical school at Stanford University School of Medicine during which time she founded a company to commercialize a medical device which she designed while in medical school. In addition, Dr. Mohr currently serves as a scientific advisor to several startup companies in Silicon Valley as well as government technology development programs and startups in her native New Zealand.
She is a frequent speaker on the topics of surgical robotics, innovation, and the importance of science, at national and international conferences. She is also the author of numerous scientific publications, and the recipient of multiple awards including “World Class New Zealander” for raising the profile of New Zealand on the international stage.
