Alisa Coker, M.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care
Director of Robotic Surgery and Education, Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care
About
Alisa M. Coker, M.D., FACS, is a fellowship-trained minimally invasive and robotic surgeon with clinical expertise in abdominal wall hernias and abdominal wall reconstruction, benign foregut disorders and benign biliary disorders.
Coker leads Dell Medical School’s institutional strategy for robotic surgery, including program development, curriculum design, and faculty and resident education. Her work focuses on building a multiplatform robotic training ecosystem grounded in simulation, intraoperative coaching and competency-based assessment. She also collaborates with the Texas Robotics lab on simulation initiatives and emerging approaches to human–robot interaction in surgery.
Prior to her recruitment to Dell Medical School, Coker served as director of robotic surgery and education at Johns Hopkins, where she developed a comprehensive robotic surgery curriculum and helped build a nationally recognized robotic surgery program known for its high procedural volume, structured coaching model, and strong educational culture.
Nationally, Coker serves on the American College of Surgeons Clinical Skills Committee and co-chairs ACS robotic skills courses. She has been a member of the SAGES Robotics Committee since 2017, contributing to national efforts in robotic surgery training, standardized curricula and credentialing. Her academic interests include surgical simulation, curriculum design, robotic procedural performance and abdominal wall reconstruction.
Her scholarly work includes peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. Selected peer-reviewed work:
- Coker AM, et al. “Robotic Cholecystectomy vs Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy and Clinical Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.” JAMA Surgery. 2024. PMID: 40397430.
- Port JR, Podolsky D, Ballecer C, Coker AM, Kudsi OY, Duffy AJ, Meara MP, Novitsky YW. “Structured Resident Training in Robotic Surgery: Recommendations of the Robotic Surgery Education Working Group.” Journal of Surgical Education. 2024; 81(1):9–16. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2023.09.006. PMID: 37827925.
Coker earned both her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Colorado, followed by general surgery residency and a minimally invasive surgery fellowship at the University of California, San Diego. She is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.