Dr. Timothy Lesser is a local product, born and raised in Manhattan Beach. He attended high school at Chadwick before graduating cum laude from Bowdoin College in Maine. He attended medical School at USC and completed his urology residency under the guidance of the legendary Dr. Jon Kaswick at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles. Dr. Lesser received his advanced robotic surgery training at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles, which boasts the highest single-robot surgical volume on the West Coast.
Dr. Lesser’s focus is on combining proven oncologic principles with more modern, minimally-invasive surgical techniques. He was trained during the transition from traditional open surgery to minimally-invasive surgery (laparoscopy and robotics) for the management of urologic cancers. The foundations of cancer management began with his early training with Dr. Donald Skinner at USC, where he learned the open approach to the surgical management of bladder cancer as well as the various forms of urinary diversion. Throughout his training, he learned to treat not only bladder cancer, but also prostate, kidney, and adrenal cancer using these principles translated to the laparoscopic and robotic arena. While continuing to perform open surgery – especially for invasive bladder cancer – Dr. Lesser has gained extensive experience in laparoscopic and robotic prostatectomy, adrenalectomy, nephrectomy, and partial nephrectomy. More recently, Dr. Lesser has focused on nephron-sparing surgery (i.e. laparoscopic and robotic partial nephrectomy) for renal masses, and is adept at all of the cutting edge surgical techniques required to result in excellent outcomes.
In addition to his extensive and broad surgical experience, Dr. Lesser has written numerous articles published in peer-reviewed journals as well as a book chapter. Dr. Lesser serves on the board of the Wellness Community, a community-based cancer support center in the South Bay. He is board-certified and, in his role as an Associate Clinical Professor at UCLA, he is involved in training UCLA residents at Harbor UCLA Medical Center.
In Practice
- Since 2009
Languages
- English
Specialties
- General Urology
- Urologic Cancer
- Prostate Disease
- Robotic Surgery
- Laparoscopic Surgery
- Oncology
- Kidney Stones
- Reconstructive Urology
- Scalpel-less vasectomy
Education
- Bowdoin College, BA Biochemistry, Cum Laude, 1996
- USC School of Medicine, Medical Degree, 2003
Residency
- Residency in Urology, Kaiser Permanente Urology, Residency Training Program, LA 2005-2009
- Surgical internship, Kaiser Permanente, General surgery Department, LA 2003-2005
Memberships
- American Urologic Association
cancers that projected my passing in 90 days of cancer discovery. It is 9 years & I am 200% cancer 
Patient Submitted Review
May-2025
Dr. Lesser is a great doctor; very personable, as well as knowledgeable and fun to talk to. He addressed all of my concerns and made some great suggestions!