Dr. Dana P. Launer

Dana P. Launer, M.D. F.A.C.S. Dr. Dana P. Launer was born and raised in New York City. He received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry at Queens College of the City University of New York and graduated with a medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Launer completed his five-year General Surgical training at North Shore University Hospital of Cornell University Medical Center and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute, both in New York. In 1978, he was a Special Fellow in the Department of Colon and Rectal Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic where he studied with Dr. Rupert B. Turnbull, considered one of the “fathers� of Colon and Rectal Surgery in the United States, and Dr. Victor W. Fazio, the current Chairman of the Department of Colon and Rectal Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic and the editor of the national journal, Diseases of the Colon and Rectum. Dr. Launer is Board Certified in both General Surgery and Colon and Rectal Surgery and has been in private practice in La Jolla, California since 1979. In 1985, he traveled to Europe to pursue his interest in the surgical management of Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease by studying with Dr. Nils Koch in Gotteborg, Sweden and with Dr. John Nichols at St. Mark’s Hospital in London. Dr. Launer specializes in the surgical management of complicated intestinal diseases including Colon and Rectal Cancer, Diverticulitis, Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease. He recently co-authored a chapter regarding “Re-do Pelvic Surgery� in Fazio’s, Current Therapy in Colon and Rectal Surgery. Dr. Launer has always been a surgical innovator. He has performed more than 800 Koch Continent Ileostomies and Restorative Proctocolectomies, two operations that have provided continence and a superior lifestyle to patients who would otherwise have required a “bag.� He was the first surgeon in San Diego to perform a minimally invasive laparoscopic colon resection in 1991, reducing the hospitalization for this major surgical procedure from 7 to 2 days and allowing patient to return to their normal activities weeks much earlier than with conventional surgery. Dr. Launer has been involved in medical staff leadership for many years at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. He has held positions as Chairman of the Section of General Surgery and Chief of the Department of Surgery and has been a member of the Executive Medical Committee and the Physician Leadership Cabinet. He has been a member of the Board of Directors and the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee of the Greater San Diego and Desert Chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. Dr. Launer frequently volunteers as a staff surgeon at Specialty Animal Hospital where he has performed cardiac and intestinal surgery, applying the basic principles of human medicine to dogs and cats. He has published several papers in peer reviewed veterinary journals. In his spare time, Dr. Launer enjoys cooking gourmet meals for family and friends. He also loves woodworking and recently fully restored a Vienna Resistance Clock that was originally manufactured in 1880. Recently, a grateful patient provided the funds for construction of a primary school in the Yunnan Province in the People’s Republic of China and dedicated that school in Dr. Launer’s honor. Dr. Launer lives in Carmel Valley with his wife, Elaine, his soul mate and a Registered Nurse at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. He has four children. His daughter is a music business student at Westminster University in London. His other daughter is studying bioscience at University of California at Davis. His identical twin sons are juniors at Torrey Pines High School and are vice presidents of the Southwest Region of United Synagogue Youth. Dr. Launer’s goals as the incoming Chief of Staff at Scripps Hospital-La Jolla include participating in the reorganization of the Operating Room and completing the hard work begun by Dr. Sabina Wallach, the outgoing Chief of Staff, by instituting a Hospitalist and Intensivist program in order to improve patient care.