John K. Waters, M.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He specializes in non-cardiac thoracic surgery.

Dr. Waters earned his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed a residency in surgery and a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at UT Southwestern, followed by an advanced fellowship in surgical robotics through the American Association for Thoracic Surgery Graham Foundation and supplemental training in thoracic surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the University of Pittsburgh.

Certified by the American Boards of Surgery and Thoracic Surgery, Dr. Waters joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2020. Previously, he served as a thoracic surgeon at Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital-Plano, where he established programs in airway, benign foregut, and esophageal emergency surgery.

Dr. Waters’ clinical interests include minimally invasive and robotic-assisted surgery, lung and esophageal cancer, esophagectomy for benign disease, mesothelioma, mediastinal masses, paraneoplastic syndromes, chest wall tumors, and benign foregut disease. He has co-authored book chapters on surgical robotics and esophagectomy for end-stage achalasia and presented original work at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery Lung Cancer Symposium and General Thoracic Surgery Club. He serves as an ad-hoc reviewer for numerous scholarly journals.