Lary Robinson, M.D.
Thoracic Surgeon
Dr. Lary Robinson is a thoracic surgeon, a veteran and a key member of the Mesothelioma Research and Treatment Program at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.
About Dr. Lary Robinson
Dr. Lary Robinson served his country as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force, rank of major, stationed in Thailand during the Vietnam War.
He has served patients at Moffitt for more than 20 years, eventually becoming director of cardiothoracic surgery.
Most of his work today involves lung cancer, but he also handles less common malignancies of the chest such as pleural mesothelioma and thymoma.
Robinson began his civilian practice at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where he was an associate professor of surgery and pharmacology and the clinical director of the Clinical Perfusion Education program.
Early Years of Mesothelioma Surgery
Robinson joined Moffitt in 1994, where he began treating pleural mesothelioma, performing the aggressive extrapleural pneumonectomy and the pleurectomy and decortication surgeries when they were still developing.
He performed the pleurectomy and decortication procedure in 2011 for patient Rich DeLisle, who became a success story for other mesothelioma survivors.
DeLisle, originally given six months to live, led a very active lifestyle for more than six years after his diagnosis.
In the mesothelioma program at Moffitt today, Robinson works with thoracic surgeon Dr. Jacques Fontaine, oncologists Dr. Scott Antonio and Dr. Tawee Tanvetyanon and radiologist Dr. Bela Kis.
As a senior member of the Moffitt Medical Group, Robinson is a professor of surgery and interdisciplinary oncology at the Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida.
A Vast Amount of Research
Robinson is a member and former co-director of the Center for Immunization and Infection Research in Cancer, which he helped start at Moffitt in 2012.
Through his career at Moffitt, he has been involved in several clinical trials involving mesothelioma. He is currently the lead investigator in a lung cancer study involving immunonutrition for non-small cell lung cancer.
He is a sub-investigator for another clinical trial that is studying transarterial chemoperfusion for patients with unresectable pleural mesothelioma.
Robinson has authored or co-authored more than 150 medical publications in his career. He received his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
He did an internship and residency in cardiothoracic surgery at Duke University Medical Center. He completed a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery in London at St. Thomas’ Hospital.
