Professor Hashim Ahmed is Chair of Urology at Imperial College London, having taken on that position at the age of 41. He is currently Chair of the UK National Cancer Research Institute’s Prostate Research Group and inaugural Chair of NHS England’s Prostate Clinical Group.

His work has led to the award of the British Medical Journal Award for Innovation (2015) and the Health Services Journal Award for Innovation (2016 and 2018). He has an extensive research portfolio with £6 million in grant income as a principal applicant and co-applicant to a research programme of approximately £14 million.

He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers in areas that have led to key changes in the way we diagnose and treat men with localised prostate cancer. He currently holds a prestigious £2.1M Wellcome Trust Senior Clinical Research Fellowship and leads a team of 20 researchers with 10 active clinical trials.

Links to speaker’s research:

A Multicentre Study of 5-year Outcomes Following Focal Therapy in Treating Clinically Significant Nonmetastatic Prostate Cancer
Diagnostic accuracy of multi-parametric MRI and TRUS biopsy in prostate cancer (PROMIS): a paired validating confirmatory study
Do low-grade and low-volume prostate cancers bear the hallmarks of malignancy?
Population-Based Prostate Cancer Screening With Magnetic Resonance Imaging or Ultrasonography: The IP1-PROSTAGRAM Study

Dr Anger is a dual fellowship-trained reconstructive urologist with extensive experience treating pelvic floor disorders.

Alberto Briganti (MD; PhD) is Professor of Urology at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. Since 2018, Prof Briganti has been the Editor-in-Chief of European Urology Oncology, one of the official Journals of the European Association of Urology (IF 2021: 7.479). He has contributed to the development of several multi-institutional databases for prostate cancer staging and outcomes which have been used for improving currently available prediction models. He is the author of more than 1000 scientific works published in international peer-reviewed journals (H-Index is 82). In recognition of his academic career, in 2016 Prof Briganti received the Matula Award, assigned yearly to the most promising academic urologist younger than 40 years of age.

Links to speaker’s research:

MRI-Targeted or Standard Biopsy for Prostate-Cancer Diagnosis

IL-23 secreted by myeloid cells drives castration-resistant prostate cancer

Assessing the Role and Optimal Duration of Hormonal Treatment in Association with Salvage Radiation Therapy After Radical Prostatectomy

A Novel Nomogram to Identify Candidates for Extended Pelvic Lymph Node Dissection Among Patients with Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer Diagnosed with Magnetic Resonance Imaging-targeted and Systematic Biopsies

Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH is an Assistant Attending Epidemiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, USA. She has 15 years of prostate cancer research experience and over 100 scientific publications. Her PhD thesis stemmed from the world’s largest study of prostate cancer screening, the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC). Dr Carlsson’s research focuses on developing risk-stratified approaches to screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of prostate cancer patients as well as improving shared decision making as funded by a K22 Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute.

Links to speaker’s research:

Influence of blood prostate specific antigen levels at age 60 on benefits and harms of prostate cancer screening: population based cohort study
Long-Term Outcomes of Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer: The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Experience
Risk of Metastasis in Men with Grade Group 2 Prostate Cancer Managed with Active Surveillance at a Tertiary Cancer Center

Sam S. Chang, MD, MBA, Patricia and Rodes Hart Endowed Professor of Urologic Surgery at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee serves as the first Chief Surgical Officer at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center.

Since his return to Nashville, he has led efforts in integration of evidence-based medicine in clinical pathways, enhanced national guidelines formulation, improved urologic cancer staging, and promoted multi-disciplinary cancer treatment initiatives. Dr Chang has served as the Chair of the SUO Panel on Hormone Refractory Prostate Cancer, the Chair of the American Joint Committee on Cancer GU Staging Task Force, the Facilitator and Vice-Chair of the Renal Malignancy Follow-Up AUA Guidelines Panel, the Chair of the AUA/ASCO/ASTRO/SUO Guidelines on Non Invasive and Invasive Bladder Cancer, and the Chair of the AUA Prostate Cancer Core Curriculum Committee. He currently sits on the NCCN Bladder Cancer Panel, is the Chair of the AUA Public Policy Panel, and is the Editor in Chief of the American Board of Urology Examination Committee. An elected member of the AAGUS, he currently serves as Assistant Secretary of the American Urological Association. Most recently in 2021, Dr Chang was named to the AUA National Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion.

Dr Chang has authored more than 450 original publications. For his academic efforts, he received the CaPCURE Prostate Cancer Young Investigator award, SUO’s first-ever Distinguished Service Award, the AUA Gold Cystoscope Award, and the SWIU Christina Manthos Mentoring Award.

Links to speaker’s research:

Diagnosis and Treatment of Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer: AUA/SUO Guideline
Intravesical Anti-PD-1 Immune Checkpoint Inhibition Treats Urothelial Bladder Cancer in a Mouse Model
Renal mass and localized renal cancer: evaluation, management, and follow-up: AUA guideline
Treatment of non-metastatic muscle-invasive bladder cancer: AUA/ASCO/ASTRO/SUO Guideline (Amended 2020)

Dr Thomas Chi, MD, is Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Programs with the UCSF Department of Urology. He graduated as a President’s Scholar from Stanford University with a BA in Human Biology and Masters degrees in both Sociology and Music. Dr Chi earned his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine then completed urology residency at UCSF followed by a fellowship in Endourology and Laparoscopy.

Dr Chi has been awarded grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and the American Urological Association Urology Care Foundation to research the fundamental mechanisms underlying the formation of urinary stones. He is the 2020 recipient of the AUA Gold Cystoscope Award, which is presented annually to a urologist distinguished by outstanding contributions to the profession within ten years of completing residency training.

His clinical expertise focuses on the care of patients with urinary stone disease, benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and those in need of minimally invasive surgery. He specialises in performing endoscopic, laparoscopic, and percutaneous stone surgeries. Dr Chi has used ultrasound guidance to create innovative radiation-free kidney stone surgeries for stone removal, representing the first program of its kind in the United States. He is also experienced in performing Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP) – a minimally invasive operation to treat men with an enlarged prostate.

Links to speaker’s research:

Rationale and Design of the Registry for Stones of the Kidney and Ureter (ReSKU™): A Prospective, Observational Registry to Study the Natural History of Urolithiasis Patients
The erector spinae plane block can facilitate outpatient stone surgery by reducing breakthrough pain
X-ray–free Ultrasound-guided Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: How to Select the Right Patient?

Dr Djinovic is a General and Urogenital Reconstructive Surgeon and currently serves as Chairman and surgical team leader of the Sava Perovic Foundation.

Dr Djinovic professional memberships include: EUA (European Urological Association), ESGURS (European Society of Genito-Urinary Reconstructive Surgeons), ESSM (European Society of Sexual Medicine), ISSM (International Society of Sexual Medicine), ESAU (European Society of Andrological Urology), ESPU (European Society of Pediatric Urology), WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health), SIU (Societe International de Urologie).

Tobias S. Köhler, MD, MPH, FACS, Professor of Urology, specialises in the treatment of erectile and sexual dysfunction, and BPH (enlarged prostate) in the Department of Urology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He is head of Mayo Men’s Health and Program Director for the Mayo Andrology Fellowship. Dr Köhler is an active member of American Urological Association, North Central Section, and is the Secretary of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America. He has published more than 250 peer reviewed scientific articles, book chapters and scientific abstracts and presented both locally and nationally on various subjects including erectile dysfunction, low testosterone, BPH, surgical education, and penile prostheses.

Links to speaker’s research:

Incidence of Venous Thromboembolism and Safety of Perioperative Subcutaneous Heparin During Inflatable Penile Prosthesis Surgery
Penile implant infection prevention part 1: what is fact and what is fiction? Wilson’s Workshop #9
The Tubing, Hitch and Lasso, Intussusception Anchor (THALIA) Technique: A Novel Approach to Fixate the Penile Implant Reservoir

Dr. Suzanne B. Merrill is a board certified urologist who is fellowship trained in urologic oncology.  She has expertise in treating all primary and recurrent cancers of the urinary tract (Bladder, Upper tract/urothelial, Kidney, Prostate, Testicular, Adrenal and Penile).  On account of her training, Dr. Merrill has the ability to utilize the surgical techniques of either open, laparoscopic/robotic-assisted or endoscopic surgery to provide more individualized care to her patients.  She is dedicated to providing her patients with cutting edge treatment options, incorporating novel medical/surgical therapies and clinical trial opportunities when appropriate.

Dr. Merrill graduated summa cum laude from The University of Delaware and with Alpha Omega Alpha honors from The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Medicine.  She completed her residency at Duke University followed by a Society of Urologic Oncology fellowship at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  While at Mayo, she also received a certificate in Translational Research.

Dr. Merrill has received numerous awards for her accomplishments and leadership in the field including being named the American Urological Association Young Urologist of the Year and inducted into the American Urological Association Leadership Program in 2020.  Prior to being at Colorado Urology, she was an Associate Professor of Urologic Oncology and Residency Program Director at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania.  Here she was recognized with awards for her outstanding faculty leadership/mentorship as well as humanism and professionalism in surgery.

Throughout the years, Dr. Merrill has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles and been invited to speak at national society meetings regarding oncology, research and education.  She remains as faculty for the American Urological Association Oral Board Review and Life Long Learning courses which help urologists obtain and maintain their board certification status.

Dr. Merrill is a member of the Society of Urologic Oncology, the American Urological Association, the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Women in Urology and Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society.

Links to speaker’s research:

Capturing Renal Cell Carcinoma Recurrences When Asymptomatic Improves Patient Survival.

Oncologic Surveillance After Surgical Resection for Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Novel Risk-Based Approach.

Evaluation of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and American Urological Association renal cell carcinoma surveillance guidelines.

Silvia Proietti is a Consultant urologist at San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy. She trained in Perugia, Italy, and during her residency spent 4 months at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust of London for a clinical research fellowship in functional urology. From 2012 to 2015 she was a staff member of “Stone Center” of the Urology Department at Humanitas Clinical and Research Center in Milan. In 2015, she completed a 6-month fellowship in endourology at Tenon University Hospital under the supervision of Professor O. Traxer. She holds the position of Vice Director at the European Training Center of Endourology (ETCE) under the direction of Dr G. Giusti. Her main field of interest is in endourology, specifically in minimally invasive treatment of stones and upper urinary tract tumours. She has authored several papers published in peer-reviewed journals and won several awards at National and International meetings. She is Associate Editor of the European Urology Open Science Journal.

Links to speaker’s research:

Comparison of New Single-Use Digital Flexible Ureteroscope Versus Nondisposable Fiber Optic and Digital Ureteroscope in a Cadaveric Model
Endourological Stone Management in the Era of the COVID-19
Simultaneous Bilateral Endoscopic Surgery (SBES) for Patients with Bilateral Upper Tract Urolithiasis: Technique and Outcomes

Dr Jeremy Teoh is the Assistant Dean (External Affairs) and Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has primary interest in bladder cancer and he has developed a global consensus statement on en bloc resection of bladder tumour. He is also heavily involved in the Asian Robot-Assisted Radical Cystectomy Consortium. Jeremy has published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as European Urology, Journal of Urology and BJU International. He is also the founder of the UroSoMe (Urology Social Media) working group and he believes that social media plays an important role in the modern era of medicine.

Links to the speaker’s research:

An International Collaborative Consensus Statement on En Bloc Resection of Bladder Tumour Incorporating Two Systematic Reviews, a Two-round Delphi Survey, and a Consensus Meeting
Global Trends of Bladder Cancer Incidence and Mortality, and Their Associations with Tobacco Use and Gross Domestic Product Per Capita
Perioperative Outcomes of Robot-Assisted Radical Cystectomy with Intracorporeal Versus Extracorporeal Urinary Diversion

Professor Hana Yoon specialises in Voiding dysfunction, Neurourology, Female urology, Pelvic Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, Sexual Medicine.

She is Head Professor of the Department of Urology, at the Ewha Womans University College of Medicine in Seoul, and Chairman of the Department of Urology at the Ewha Medical Center Seoul Hospital. Prof Yoon is Chair of international exchange and affairs committee of the Korean Continence Society (KCS), and Secretary General of the
Korean Society of Study for Women’s Sexual Health (KoSSWSH). She is a member of AUA, ICS, IUGA, and ISSWSH. In the past Prof Yoon was a visiting scholar at Boston Medical Centre (Boston University School of Medicine), Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center Incontinence Center (Harvard Medical School), and UC San Diego.

Links to speaker’s research:

Future Targets for Female Sexual Dysfunction
Sexual pain and IC/BPS in women