Dr. Yasir M. Akmal

Dr. Yasir M. Akmal is a Staff Physician in the General Surgery Department at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi's Digestive Disease Institute, where he also serves as Program Director of the General Surgery Residency. He brings 22 years of surgical experience, having trained at leading U.S. medical centres including Geisinger Medical Center and City of Hope National Medical Center. Before joining Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, he spent three years as a General and Surgical Oncologist at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles, where he helped pioneer robotic colorectal surgery in the region and launched the Robotic Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery Program.

Dr. Akmal's clinical expertise spans minimally invasive and robotic surgery, complex upper and lower gastrointestinal conditions, hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery for both benign and cancerous disease, colorectal cancer, soft-tissue tumours, breast, thyroid and parathyroid surgery, and peritoneal cancer surgery with intraoperative chemotherapy. He is known for his surgical innovation and educational leadership—he received the Residency Teaching Award and Departmental Merit Award at Kaiser Permanente, and has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and presented at major surgical society conferences.

Dr. Akmal completed his medical training at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, followed by surgical residency in Pennsylvania and oncologic fellowship training in California. He is an active member of the American College of Surgeons, Society of Surgical Oncology, and American Society of Clinical Oncology.