YEAR IN REVIEW: 2022 BREAKTHROUGHS IN RESEARCH
​AND DISCOVERY

From bedside to bench and back again, the Northwestern Medicine Department of Urology seeks to develop therapies and search for cures that tangibly impact the lives of our patients. In 2022, we enrolled more than 600 patients in over 25 clinical trials and expanded our research team so we could continue making groundbreaking clinical discoveries and advancing our world-class research.
 
Clinically, we offer premier diagnostic and treatment capabilities, with the goal of achieving superior results for patients. Northwestern Memorial Hospital has had the highest-ranked Urology program in Illinois for 23 consecutive years, according to U.S. News & World Report, 2022 – 2023. We earn this distinction by being a leader in innovative research, resulting in the delivery of integrated urologic care that improves patients’ health and quality of life.
 
We are proud to highlight 2022’s key activities and accomplishments, and the people who made them possible. Together with our patients, scientists and clinicians, we will continue to advance urologic care through research, education and discovery.
Edward M. Schaeffer, MD, PhD
Chair, Department of Urology
Harold Binstein Professor of Urology
Northwestern Medicine

CLINICAL UPDATES AND ADVANCES

Introducing 10 Multidisciplinary Urology Clinics
Northwestern Medicine Urology recently established 10 multidisciplinary clinics and programs dedicated to providing comprehensive and personalized treatment for urologic cancers and complex conditions. The Northwestern Medicine Complex Urologic Infectious Diseases Clinic and the Northwestern Medicine Gay and Bisexual Men’s Urology Program are the first of their kind in the country.
​Welcoming Hiten D. Patel, MD, and Amanda X. Vo, MD
Northwestern Medicine was thrilled to welcome Hiten D. Patel, MD, and Amanda X. Vo, MD, as assistant professors of Urology.
​Leading the Development of Urology Clinical Practice Guidelines
Edward Schaeffer, MD, PhD, chair of Urology at Northwestern Medicine, is also the chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Prostate Cancer Clinical Guideline Panel. Check out the full list of Northwestern Medicine Urology faculty members who recently participated in national committees to develop the NCCN Guidelines for the management of urologic malignancies.
​HoLEP Semi-Live Surgery Performed By Amy Krambeck, MD
Amy E. Krambeck, MD, chief of Endourology and Stone Disease in the Department of Urology at Northwestern Medicine, is a leading expert in holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) for benign prostatic hyperplasia. She takes us step by step through the HoLEP procedure on a 76-year-old patient with a 180-gram prostate who has been in urinary retention for several months.
Case Report: Detecting False-Positive PET PSMA in the Evaluation of Prostate Cancer
Edward M. Schaeffer, MD, PhD, describes the case of a 74-year-old male patient who was referred to Northwestern Medicine Urology for a second opinion after being diagnosed with unfavorable intermediate and high-grade prostate cancer.
Expanding Urologic Care and Reach Throughout Illinois
Northwestern Medicine Urology continued its regional expansion and integration with the addition of four new urologists to our regional practices and the opening of a urology clinic in the Northwestern Medicine Grayslake Outpatient Center. More patients now have access to state-of-the art robotic surgery for kidney tumors and prostate cancer with the upgrade of Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital surgical robot. Northwestern Medicine’s growing footprint provides patients with coordinated, systemwide specialty care, greater access to clinical trials, and magnified interregional partnerships and knowledge exchange among clinicians.

Research news and discoveries

​Guideline-Discordant Care Among Direct-to-Consumer Testosterone Therapy Platforms
A first-of-its-kind Northwestern Medicine study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that direct-to-consumer online platforms are offering therapies to men who do not meet guidelines for testosterone deficiency while also failing to convey the risks of treatment.
​Blood Cancer Drug Proves Effective for Bladder Cancer
For the first time, an epigenetics drug used for treating blood cancers and rare sarcomas has been used to stop the growth of bladder cancer in mice, reports a recent Northwestern Medicine study published in Science Advances.
New Regulator of Therapy Resistance in Prostate Cancer Identified
Northwestern Medicine investigators have identified a gene that confers resistance to a common prostate cancer treatment, according to a study published in Cancer Research. Targeting the pathway downstream from this gene could reverse therapeutic resistance and improve patient outcomes.
Update on First Biomarker-Directed Trial of Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer
Lead investigator Joshua Meeks, MD, PhD, the Edward M. Schaeffer, MD, PhD, Professor of Urology at Northwestern Medicine, discusses the Thor-2 trial, one of the first biomarker-directed trials of high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, and how it could be a new paradigm in bladder oncology care.
Elucidating the Genetic Mechanisms of Urologic Cancers
The Yang Laboratory at Northwestern Medicine integrates large-scale, multi-dimensional genomic data to understand the initiation and progression of diseases and drive innovations in precision oncology.
Sarki A. Abdulkadir, MD, PhD, Receives 1 of 4 Inaugural Class of 2022 TACTICAL Awards From the Prostate Cancer Foundation
Learn about all sponsored research awards, totaling more than $5 million in 2022, that enable high-impact basic and translational research.

EDUCATION HIGHLIGHTS

New No-Cost CME Courses
The virtual and in-person CME courses offered by Northwestern Medicine Urology — including Updates and Advances in Urologic Oncology, Advances in Genitourinary Robotic Reconstruction and the Boston Scientific MOSES™ 2.0 Mastery Course from Amy Krambeck, MD — drew more than 600 participants from across the country in 2022. We invite you to join us as we expand our offerings in 2023 to include virtual CMEs in urologic reconstruction, andrology and more.
Visiting Professors and Conference Highlights 
Northwestern Medicine Urology played a prominent role at various urology conferences, educational courses and visiting professorships in 2022, contributing more than 125 presentations and abstracts. Notably, Amy Krambeck, MD, and her team were awarded Best Clinical Research Paper at the World Congress of Endourology and Uro-technology 2022. Additionally, Joshua A. Halpern, MD, assistant professor of Urology at Northwestern Medicine, was named director-at-large of the Society of Male Reproduction and Urology (SMRU) at ASRM 2022.
New Fellowship Offerings
The adult congenital urology fellowship was launched this year; it is the first fellowship designed and dedicated to this population of pediatric patients surviving into adulthood.
Northwestern Medicine Residents Receive Urology Care Foundation Research Award
Noah Frydenlund, MD, and Jenny Guo, MD, received the 2022-23 Urology Care Foundation Research Award from the American Urological Association. Dr. Frydenlund is working under the direction of Joshua J. Meeks, MD, PhD, to study the molecular features of response to intravesical therapy in stage T1 bladder cancer using digital spatial profiling. Dr. Guo is working with Amy E. Krambeck, MD, to evaluate the use of a mobile health platform for surveillance of kidney stone formers. This is the fourth consecutive year that Northwestern Medicine residents have received this award. 
Introducing the Northwestern Medicine Urology Class of 2028
We are thrilled to welcome our 2022 intern class. Nabila (Reem) Khondakar, MD, is a graduate of State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine. Jamie Michael, MD, is a graduate of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. Joseph Nicolas, MD, and Vivian Wan, MD, are graduates of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

AWARDS, HONORS AND RECOGNITIONS

Congratulations to Northwestern Medicine Urology faculty members recognized with honors and awards for academic and research excellence in 2022.
William J. Catalona, MD
President, American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons
Excellence Award, Italian American Chamber of Commerce Midwest
 
Edward M. Schaeffer, MD, PhD
Elected Member, Clinical Society of Genitourinary Surgeons
 
Adam B. Murphy, MD
Assistant Director of Community Outreach and Engagement, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern Medicine
2022 Lurie Cancer Center Excellence Award
Leader of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, National Cancer Institute Chemoprevention Clinical Trials Network
Top 1,000 Black Scientists in the U.S., Cell Press
​
​Joshua A. Halpern, MD
Research Scholar Award, Urology Care Foundation
 
Emilie K. Johnson, MD
2022 Mentee, American Urological Association Urology Scientific Mentoring and Research Training Academy

​Stephanie J. Kielb, MD
Humanitarian Grant Program Recipient, Urology Care Foundation
 
Shilajit D. Kundu, MD
Inaugural Janice Binstein Professor of Urology
 
Amy E. Krambeck, MD
Inaugural Recipient, Northwestern Medicine Distinguished Physician in Urologic Innovation Award

Qi Cao, PhD
Anthony J. Schaeffer, MD Professor of Urology
 
Joshua J. Meeks, MD, PhD
Inaugural Edward M. Schaeffer, MD, PhD Professor of Urology

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