Meet Dr. Ahlering

Specialty: Urological Cancers

Dr. Thomas Ahlering is a highly regarded surgeon in Urologic cancers. He received his medical degree at St. Louis University School of Medicine, followed by a residency in urology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and a two-year fellowship in urologic oncology under the clinical training of Dr. Donald G. Skinner. Following his training he was the Chief of the Division of Urologic Oncology at the City of Hope (1986-1992) when he was recruited as Chief of the Division of Urology at UC Irvine in 1992-2002. His years of experience in treatment of prostate, bladder, kidney, and testicular cancers has placed him as one of the original America’s Best Doctors since his selection in 1994. He has received local, national, and international recognition for his expertise in urologic oncology, particularly in the development of Robotic radical prostatectomy with the da Vinci robot. He has performed more than 2500 such surgeries, including the first robotic prostatectomy surgeries in Southern California, Denmark, Australia, and Canada.

Since 2002, Dr. Ahlering’s research efforts have concentrated on maximizing functional recovery and patient-reported outcomes following robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. His work has been highly regarded among the scientific community, with over 400 published abstracts and journal articles. Dr. Ahlering has consistently been recognized as top 1-2% experts in academic prostatectomy research, and most recently was recognized as a Top 2% of Medical Scientist in the World in a Stanford Study. Dr. Ahlering is highly awarded and acknowledged amongst his peers including the Lifetime Achievement Award in Robotic Surgery at North American Robotic Urology Symposium; the Outstanding Faculty Achievement – Lauds and Laurels Awards from the University of California Irvine Alumni Association and Mentor of the Year from the UCI Institute of Clinical and Translational Science.