Invited Speakers

Richard K. Babayan, MD

MD
Professor and Chair, Department of Urology, Boston University School of Medicine; Chief, Department of Urology, Boston Medical Center; President, American Urological Association, Boston, MA, United States

Richard K. Babayan, MD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology, Boston University School of Medicine, and Chief of Urology at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Babayan is a graduate of Tufts University and received his medical degree at Indiana University School of Medicine in 1975. He did his surgical training at Yale-New Haven Hospital before completing his urology residency at Boston University Medical Center in 1980. From 1980 to 1982, Dr. Babayan was an AUA Research Scholar, performing basic science research in the field of hyperthermia at both MIT and BUSM. His clinical interests center on endourology and the use of minimally invasive approaches (including robotics) for prostate cancer, urinary stones, BPH and urologic oncology.

Dr. Babayan has been an active participant in local, national and international urologic organizations. He has held numerous leadership positions in the New England Section of the AUA, including president and treasurer, and served as New England Section representative to the AUA Board of Directors from 2005 to 2009. In 2011, Dr. Babayan received the AUA's Distinguished Service Award, and the New England Section presented him with the Joseph B. Dowd Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. Dr. Babayan has been a member of the Development Council for the AUA Foundation (now the UroCare Foundation) and has been a mentor for the AUA Leadership Program.  He served on the Editorial Board of the Urological Survey for The Journal of Urology®, and the AUA Publications Committee.  Dr. Babayan is the past president and member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Association of Practicing Urologists and serves on the Medical Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Prostate Cancer Coalition. 

He has been a member of the AUA since 1983.

Matthew R. Cooperberg

MD, MPH
Associate Professor, Departments of Urology and Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Hellen Diller Family Chair in Urology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States

Colin P.N. Dinney

MD
Chairman, Department of Urology; Professor, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Colin P. N. Dinney is the Chairman of the Department of Urology and a Professor in the Division of Surgery at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. After completing his residency in urology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Dr. Dinney spent two years in a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Isaiah Fidler at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center studying immunotherapy of renal cell carcinoma with synthetic lipoproteins and won the Canadian Urological Association Research Award for this work. Dr. Dinney then turned his attention to bladder cancer and developed an orthotopic model for metastatic bladder cancer that he has used to study the biology of bladder cancer metastasis. After completing a clinical fellowship, Dr. Dinney joined the faculty at M. D. Anderson with joint appointments in the Departments of Urology and Cancer Biology. Dr. Dinney is a true physician-scientist. While maintaining an active clinical practice, Dr. Dinney maintains a research laboratory and continues to make significant contributions to the development of novel therapy for both early and advanced bladder cancer. He is the PI of the M. D. Anderson Genitourinary SPORE in Bladder Cancer Research, which was awarded in September of 2001 and underwent a successful competitive renewal in 2006. In addition to administrating this program, he is actively involved in SPORE-related translational research. Over the past 10 years several concepts developed in his laboratory have been translated into clinical studies as part of the MDACC GU SPORE in Bladder Cancer, and Dr. Dinney is the PI and Clinical Co-Leader of two research projects of the GU SPORE. His laboratory focuses mainly on the development of novel therapeutic strategies for bladder cancer, including a major effort on the development of personalized therapy for advanced disease and gene therapy for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Through his collaborations at UT M.D. Anderson, the NCI, and with industry, Dr. Dinney continues to substantially expand the efforts to develop novel therapies for both early and advanced bladder cancer.

Amongst other administrative positions, Dr. Dinney is currently a member of the Society of Urologic Oncology Executive Committee and Founding President of the SUO’s Clinical Trial Consortium. Dr. Dinney serves as the SPORE Liaison to SWOG’s GU Executive Committee, and is a member of the National Institutes of Health, Genitourinary Steering Committee.

Dr. Anil Kapoor

MD
Professor of Surgery (Urology) at McMaster University/ St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Dr. Kapoor is currently Professor of Surgery (Urology) at McMaster University/ St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.  He obtained his MD from Dalhousie University. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and a Diplomate of American Board of Urology. He is certified by the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, having obtained post-graduate training from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Renal Transplantation, Reno-Vascular surgery, and GU –Renal Oncology. He has been invited as a Visiting Professor at Queen’s University, University of Ottawa, University of British Columbia, University of Manitoba, UWO, Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), and Dalhousie University.

 Dr. Kapoor is currently Head of the Genito-Urinary Oncology program at the Juravinski Cancer Centre, Program, and Co-Chair of the NCIC Kidney Cancer Disease Group. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers, 5 book chapters and over 150 abstracts in the fields of kidney transplantation, urologic laparoscopy, and urologic oncology with focus on kidney cancer and prostate cancer. He has established the Kidney Cancer Centre of Excellence at McMaster University in 2009, and is currently Head of the Clinical Trials Group at the McMaster Institute of Urology (MIU).

 

Mohit Khera

MD, MBA, MPH
Associate Professor, Urology, Baylor College of Medicine; Director, Laboratory for Andrology Research; Medical Director, Houston Hospital for Specialized Surgery, Houston, TX, United States

Mohit Khera, M.D., M.B.A., M.P.H., earned his undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University. He subsequently earned his Masters Degree in Business Administration and his Masters Degree in Public Health from Boston University.  He received his Medical Degree from The University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio and completed his Residency training in the Scott Department of Urology at Baylor College of Medicine.  After finishing a six-year residency in Urology, he completed a one-year fellowship in Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery with Dr. Larry I. Lipshultz. 

Currently an Associate Professor in the Scott Department of Urology at Baylor College of Medicine, he specializes in Male Infertility and Male and Female Sexual Dysfunction. He also serves as the Director of the Laboratory for Andrology Research at Baylor College of Medicine and Medical Director of the Houston Hospital for Specialized Surgery. He was recently appointed as the Medical Director for Baylor College of Medicine’s Executive Health Program. 

Dr. Khera is an enthusiastic investigator in the laboratory.  In 2006 he was awarded the American Urological Association and Pfizer Scholars Grant to study erectile dysfunction; in 2007 he was awarded an Auxilium Pharmaceutical Grant to study testosterone replacement therapy for prostate cancer patients, and in 2008 he was awarded an Allergan grant to study the effects of botulinum toxin in treating Peyronie’s disease. These studies continue, and in 2012 Dr. Khera was awarded one of 2 national grants to study sexual dysfunction in men taking finasteride. Also in 2012 he patented a new delivery system for testosterone and currently his laboratory is studying stem cells to treat sexual dysfunction.  

He is a widely published writer, having co-authored book chapters including those for the acclaimed Campbell-Walsh Urology textbook, for Clinical Gynecology, and for the fourth edition of Infertility in the Male edited by Lipshultz, Howards, and Niederberger.  He also co-edited the third and most recent edition of the popular book Urology and the Primary Care Practitioner.  In 2014 he published his second book “Recoupling: A Couple’s 4 Step Guide to Greater Intimacy and Better Sex”.  Dr. Khera has published over 60 articles in scientific journals and has given over 120 lectures throughout the world on testosterone replacement therapy and sexual dysfunction.   

Dr. Khera currently serves as an active member in the Sexual Medicine Society of North America and the American Society of Andrology.  In 2014 he became Associate Editor of the Journal of Sexual Medicine.   He currently serves on the American Urologic Association (AUA) Examination Committee and Sexual Dysfunction Guidelines Committee.   He teaches courses on low testosterone and sexual dysfunction for the AUA locally and internationally.  

Dr. Khera freely shares his time and knowledge with the general public. He has been voted one of Houston’s Best Doctors by Health and Sport Fitness Magazine and is a frequent guest on such TV programs as Fox News’ “Ask the Doctor.” He also writes a blog on Men’s Health for the Houston Chronicle Newspaper.

Bodo Knudsen

MD, FRCS(C)
Director, OSU Comprehensive Kidney Stone Program; Henry A. Wise II Endowed Professorship in Urology; Associate Professor, Department of Urology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Centre, Columbus, OH, United States

Dr. Bodo Knudsen was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  He obtained his Bachelor of Science from the University of Winnipeg in 1993 and then completed medical school at the Univeristy of Manitoba in 1997 where he also obtained a Bachelor of Science in Medicine.  He stayed on to do his residency at the University of Manitoba finishing in 2002 before moving to London, Ontario to spend 2.5 years with Drs. John Denstedt and Stephen Pautler completing his Fellowship in Endourology and Stone Disease.  Dr. Knudsen was recruited by THE Ohio State University in 2005 to build and develop a Comprehensive Kidney Stone Program.  At Ohio State he has the the rank of Associate Professor with Tenure, holds the Henry A. Wise II Endowed Professorship in Urology, and has served as both program director, Vice-chair of Clinical Affairs, and Interim Chair of the Department of Urology.  He co-directs the Endourology Fellowship Program with Dr. Geoff Box.  He is the past president of the Ohio Urological Society, the Vice-President of the Engineering and Urology Society, and an alternate representive to the North Central Section AUA Board.  He has published extensively in stone disease and continues to have a special interest in lasers applied to endourology.  His wife, Eunice, is a Family Physician and also works at OSU and they currently reside in Dublin, Ohio.

Peter N. Schlegel

MD, FACS
James J. Colt Professor and Chairman, Department of Urology, Weill Cornell Medicine; Urologist-in-Chief, New York Presbyterian (Cornell), New York, NY, United States

Peter N. Schlegel, MD, FACS is the James J. Colt Professor of Urology, a Professor of Reproductive Medicine, and Urologist-in-Chief for New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.  His early training as a resident at Johns Hopkins led him to perform ground-breaking work in prostate cancer and male infertility.  After a fellowship at Cornell and Rockefeller/The Population Council, he elected to stay on the faculty at Weill Cornell rather than returning to Baltimore, as planned.  “The research opportunities and clinical team in reproductive medicine in New York were unparalleled.  There was no other medical center that had as great an opportunity for patient care and to enhance patient care,”Schlegel reported at the time.

Dr. Schlegel is nationally and internationally recognized as an outstanding urologist, having served on the American Board of Urology and as a member of nearly every important, select professional organization in Urology.  He has received awards including “Established Clinician Award” from the European Society of Reproductive Medicine and the “Barringer Award for Outstanding Achievement” from the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons.  His contributions to scientific literature are reflected in over 250 published manuscripts and several NIH research grants.  He has made major contributions to the genetic and hormonal evaluation of infertility patients, as well as development of a surgical procedure to treat the most severe forms of male infertility, called “microTESE” or “The Schlegel procedure.”  He has also developed new treatments for prostate cancer.  Of perhaps greater importance is his recognition for patient care – identified by patient groups as well as his peers.  He has consistently been a “Top Doctor” identified by his peers in published lists for more than 15 years.

Allen F. Morey

MD, FACS
Professor, Urology; Paul C. Peters Chair, Urology; Distinguished Chair, Reconstructive Urology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States

Allen F. Morey, MD, FACS is a Professor in the Department of Urology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he also holds the Paul C. Peters Chair in Urology and a Distinguished Chair in Reconstructive Urology. He is the Immediate Past President of the Society of Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgeons (GURS) and Chair of the AUA Urotrauma Guidelines committee. He was the 2013 President of the AUA South Central Section.

Dr. Morey has published more than 230 peer-reviewed articles. He served 20 years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, including assignments as Chief of Urology at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas (1999-2006) and Urology Consultant to The Surgeon General (2003-2007). His military awards include Airborne Wings (Parachutist’s Badge), The Legion of Merit Award, The Surgeon General’s “A” Designator Award, and a combat service patch for duty in Iraq.

Michael Naslund

MD
Professor of Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine; Director, Maryland Prostate Center and Head of the Division of Urology, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, United States

Craig Peters

MD, FACS, FAAP
Chief of Pediatric Urology, Urology, Children's Medical Center; Professor of Urology, Urology, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, United States

Dr. Peters received his MD and Urology residency from Johns Hopkins and completed a Pediatric Urology fellowship at Children’s Hospital Boston. He has been on faculty at Children’s Boston and Harvard Medical School, the University of Virginia, the George Washington University and now the University of Texas Southwestern. He is the Chief of Pediatric Urology at the Children’s Medical Center and Professor of Urology at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas. His clinical interests include perinatal urology, minimally invasive urology and vesicoureteral reflux. He has been an active basic researcher in the areas of congenital obstruction and reflux, as well as developed clinical and research programs in minimally invasive and robotic surgery. He has chaired the AUA Guidelines Panel for Vesicoureteral Reflux, the DSMB of the NIH RIVUR trial and the Section of Urology of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He is the pediatric editor of the Campbell-Walsh Textbook of Urology and is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the American Urological Association and on the Advisory Council of the NIDDK at NIH.

Larissa V. Rodriguez

MD
Professor, Urology and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vice Chair of Academics, Director of Division of FPMRS, Beverly Hills, Associate Provost Faculty and Student Initiatives in STEM, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Dr. Larissa V. Rodríguez is Professor of Urology and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vice Chair of Academics and Director of the Division of Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, Beverly Hill at the University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine and Associate Provost of faculty and Student Initiatives for STEM at USC.  She completed her medical training and Urology residency at Stanford University and completed her Female Urology, Voiding Dysfunction, and Reconstructive Surgery fellowship at UCLA.  Dr. Rodríguez’s clinical research focuses on outcomes of vaginal and robotic surgery, quality of life as it relates to pelvic floor disorders, and the pathophysiology and treatment of interstitial cystitis. In the laboratory she is pursuing investigations in the role of stress on urinary symptoms, voiding dysfunction and the use of adipose derived stem cells for urinary reconstruction. She is currently Principal Investigator in an NIH sponsored Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Urologic Pelvic Pain (MAPP) research network.  She has been a recipient of numerous research grants and has served as reviewer of multiple journals and member of study sections for the NIH and other research foundations. She has been the recipient of multiple research awards from the American Urological Association (AUA), the Western Section of the AUA, and the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine, and Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU). In 2008 she was the recipient of the Zimskind Award, an award given by SUFU to an individual with significant contribution to the field of Pelvic Medicine and Voiding Dysfunction within the first 10 years of their career.

Claus Roehrborn

MD
Professor and Chairman, Department of Urology University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, Texas, United States

Claus G. Roehrborn, MD, joined the urology faculty at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 1992 and is currently Professor and Chairman of the Department of Urology. Dr. Roehrborn’s research interests are in the areas of benign and malignant prostate diseases, including medical and minimally invasive therapies for BPH, and markers for prostate cancer. His basic, translational and clinical research has yielded over 300 peer-reviewed publications, more than 30 book chapters, and numerous other contributions to the literature. He serves on the editorial board of many peer-reviewed journals, is associate editor of Urology, and coeditor of the comprehensive and authoritative Textbook of BPH. At present, Dr. Roehrborn continues to be involved in virtually all aspects of BPH research as well as translational and clinical research in prostatitis and prostate cancer.