Season’s greetings from the Department of Urology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health! We hope all is well with you and your loved ones. As another year passes, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on some of the achievements and strides made by our department.

We welcomed several new faculty this year. Urologic Oncologist Michael Risk, MD, PhD, joined the Department in March. Dr. Risk was previously an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and served as Chief of Urology at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. Ali Antar, MD joined our faculty in August after completing the Endourology fellowship here at UW and residency at Baylor College of Medicine. General Urologist Christopher Cost, MD also joined us in August as an Assistant Clinical Professor. Dr. Cost previously practiced at Boise VA Medical Center and Western Colorado VA Medical Center. Most recently, Kristin Ebert, MD joined our Division of Pediatric Urology in November. Dr. Ebert completed the Pediatric Urology fellowship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Cleveland and practiced at Marshfield Clinic for two years before moving to UW.

Our faculty took on some exciting new leadership roles in the past year. In January, Dr. David Jarrard was appointed Deputy Director of the UW Carbone Cancer Center. Dr. Margaret Knoedler has become Co-Director of our Endourology Society Fellowship. Last month, I was appointed by the Chancellor to the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority Board. Dr. Michael Risk will take over as Urology VA Chief for the William S. Middleton Memorial Veteran’s Hospital effective January 1, 2024.  

Our faculty continue to lead the field and have taken on new state and national positions. Dr. Walid Farhat is President-Elect of the Wisconsin Urological Society and Dr. E. Jason Abel is Secretary/Treasurer. Professor Will Ricke, PhD concluded his term as President of the Society for Basic Urology Research (SBUR). Distinguished Scientist Kristina Penniston, PhD, RDN, FAND is President-Elect of the Research on Calculus Kinetics (ROCK) Society. I am President-Elect of the American Urological Association (AUA) and will begin my term as President at the AUA annual meeting in May.

Our department was ranked #7 in the nation for NIH grant funding the past two years. We look forward to the upcoming rankings for the NIH fiscal year ending September 2023 that will include a large new grant. Dr. David Jarrard, and colleagues from the Carbone Cancer Center, received an $11 million Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant for research initiatives to advance novel prostate cancer treatments.

Dr. Walid Farhat and colleagues from the School of Veterinary Medicine and Department of Psychology received a $600,000 Collaborative Health Sciences Program Grant from the Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP) Partnership Education and Research Committee (PERC). Dr. Frank Lin was awarded a Wisconsin Urological Society Pilot Grant for “Improving Antibiotic Stewardship in Patients Undergoing Urodynamic Testing”.

Our educational programs continue to flourish, and we welcomed our first class of four resident trainees in June. The resident complement increase will be complete in June 2027 when we will have 20 urology residents. This year, we introduced a new educational podcast called WInnovations, hosted by Dr. Kyle Richards, that features interviews with physicians and scientists from our department and other top urology programs. These podcasts are housed on our website, urology.wisc.edu.

Philanthropy is a crucial element in maintaining our level of excellence, and we are extremely fortunate to have strong support. An investment in the Department’s work, no matter how big or small, helps us continue to achieve our mission – Innovative Research, Outstanding Care. Please contact Christina Brugger if you have any questions about the work being done in our Department or options for giving, at brugger@urology.wisc.edu.

We wish you and your loved ones a safe and joyous holiday season.

Most sincerely,

Stephen Y. Nakada, MD, FACS, FRCS(Glasg.)

Professor and Chairman

The David T. Uehling Chair in Urology