Faculty News

PROMOTIONS

Congratulations to the following Department of Urology faculty members on their recent Sidney Kimmel Medical College promotions: Dr. Paul Chung promotion to Associate Professor Dr. Akhil Das promotion to Professor Dr. Scott Hubosky promotion to Professor

BOARD CERTIFICATION

Congratulations to Thenu Chandrasekar, MD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Urology, who received his Board Certification in Urology. Dr. Gomella was also asked to participate in an Independence Blue Cross (IBX) podcast on prostate cancer. The IBX podcast host, Peter Panageas, related the story of his father who recently passed away from prostate cancer. The podcast was aligned with “Movember”, an annual November event when men are encouraged to grow facial hair to increase awareness of men’s health initiatives and to donate to various charities. The November 30, 2021 podcast was live on iHeartRadio, Apple & Google podcasts, and Stitcher. An archival broadcast is available on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/ episode/6ByD8IOYehg6LpADtdukIx).

PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE TOP DOCTORS 2021

Every year, Castle Connolly surveys tens of thousands of practicing physicians across the United States by email and mail to ensure our list always reflects the latest in quality care. After a doctor is nominated, each doctor is screened to confirm whether he or she meets Castle Connolly high standards. The following faculty in the Department of Urology have been recognized in this year’s group of Castle Connolly “Top Doctors” as published in the Philadelphia Magazine: Deborah Glassman, MD Leonard G. Gomella, MD Joseph K. Izes, MD Costas D. Lallas, MD Alana Murphy, MD Patrick J. Shenot, MD Edouard J. Trabulsi, MD

LEONARD G. GOMELLA, MD, FACS

Dr. Gomella has been invited to serve as a 2022 grant reviewer for NCI’s Early Detection Research Network (EDRN). The EDRN is a national infrastructure to discover, develop, and validate biomarkers and imaging methods for early cancer detection and risk assessment.

DEBORAH T. GLASSMAN, MD, FACS

Congratulations to Dr. Deb Glassman on being named one of Castle Connolly’s Exceptional Women in Medicine for 2021 in addition to her recognition as a Philadelphia Magazine “Top Doctor”. The Exceptional Women in Medicine awardees are recognized annually, based on peer nominations and outstanding accomplishments and dedication to the field of medicine. These women have contributed to the advancement of healthcare through clinical care, research, community service, education and/or leadership. Dr. Glassman heads the Department of Urology telehealth initiatives and was recently appointed one of Jefferson’s Telehealth Quality leaders.

PERRY R. WEINER, DO, MSc, FACOS

Congratulations to Dr. Weiner for being recognized as a Top Doctor in South Jersey Magazine. Dr. Weiner is Clinical associate Professor of Urology and is head of the Men’s Health and Wellness program at Jefferson. The Men’s Program has recently been growing in New Jersey through our expanded Cherry Hill office. The Methodist Hospital Foundation Fall Runway Event was dedicated to support the Men’s Health Program in South Philly (See page 32).

ALANA M. MURPHY, MD, FACS

Dr. Murphy has been asked to serve on the American Board of Urology Examination Committee. The Committee has oversight of the two-part exam process that leads to Board Certification in Urology. Applicants must have completed an approved Urology residency program and is a first step in the certification process, which is the successful completion of the Part 1 Qualifying Examination. After meeting certain specific criteria including unrestricted medical licensure, assessment of clinical practice through practice logs, acceptable peer review, and the 16-month practice requirement in a single community, the applicant must successfully complete the oral Part 2 Certifying Examination to become board certified in Urology.

EDOUARD J. TRABULSI, MD, MBA, FACS

Dr. Trabulsi has been asked to serve on the Department of Defense (DoD) Prostate Cancer Grant Review Panel. Since 1997, the Prostate Cancer Research Program of the DOD has been dedicated to supporting research focused on eradicating prostate cancer, and specifically seeks to promote innovative, groundbreaking research with near-term clinical relevance. It also seeks to develop the next generation of prostate cancer investigators through mentored research. Dr. Trabulsi served on two reviews this past year, including as chair of one of the Early Career Investigator and Physician Research Award panels in August, as well as a member of the Prostate Cancer Clinical Trial Consortium (PCCTC) funding mechanism panel in November. This was the 9th year that Dr. Trabulsi has served as a reviewer for the DOD CDMRP program.

COSTAS D. LALLAS, MD, FACS

The Mid Atlantic Section of the American Urology Association (MAAUA) has chosen Dr. Lallas to serve as President. After service as President-elect, he will begin his one-year term as President in October 2022. Dr. Lallas has been a Mid-Atlantic AUA Board member since 2018. He also completed one of the highly competitive AUA Leadership programs in 2016. The AUA is divided into 9 North American Sections. The Mid Atlantic Section covers portions of Pennsylvania and New Jersey along with the states of Delaware and Virginia and the District of Columbia. Other Jefferson Urology faculty who have served as Mid-Atlantic AUA Presidents include Drs. D.M. Davis, Theodore Fetter, S. Grant Mulholland, Leonard G. Gomella, and Edouard J. Trabulsi.

SOCIETY OF ACADENIC UROLOGY APPOINTMENTS

The Society of Academic Urologists (SAU) formed in 2016 when the Society of University Urologists and the Society of Urology Chairpersons and Program Directors voted to merge. SAU provides academic urologists with a forum to discuss, review, and potentially resolve critical issues in all aspects of academic urology. The SAU’s educational programs provide a forum to examine, discuss, and establish policy for academic urology practice. Sessions cover faculty development, urologic education, academic health policy, and clinical and laboratory research. SAU communicates and collaborates with the AUA, ABU, ACGME, AAMC, RRC, AUA Office of Research, and the ACS to review and improve academic urology and address the economic and legislative policies that affect it.

Additionally, SAU gives academic urology a voice in the AUA Match program, which connects medical students interested in becoming urologists with urology programs. SAU uses a portion of the dues it collects to help support AUA Match and make it possible. Dr. Pat Shenot has been appointed Chair of the Assessment /USMLE Committee. In addition, the following Jefferson urology faculty have been asked to serve as members of other SAU Committees: Dr. Alana Murphy: Virtual Residency Interview Committee Dr. Costas Lallas: Avoidance of Bias & Discrimination in Resident Recruitment & Training Committee

MATHEW L. THAKUR, PhD, FSNMMI, FNAI, FACNM, FICNM, FARR

Congratulations to Dr. Thakur who has been honored with a Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is presented to less than 5% of Marquis Who’s Who listees, and is selectively bestowed on the basis of career longevity, philanthropic endeavors, and lasting contributions to society. Dr. Thakur is Professor of Radiology, Radiation Oncology and Urology and Director, Laboratories of Radiopharmaceutical Research, Molecular Imaging and Biofluid Diagnostics. Dr. Thakur, along with co-PI Dr. Ed Trabulsi, is leading a multiyear NCI grant to study the role of the VPAC receptor in the non-invasive detection of prostate cancer.

A FIRST IN MEDICAL PUBLISHING

According to Jason Malley, Executive Editor in the Professional Publishing Group McGraw-Hill Education, “I am not sure there has been two books in the field of medicine

where both the husband and wife have named books.” Having a named book is not easy to achieve in medical publishing, as it usually requires multiple successful editions, international presence, and an editor with name recognition. Mr. Malley is referring to two of McGraw-Hill’s popular medical publications: Gomella’s Neonatology and Gomella and Haist’s Clinician’s Pocket Reference. Dr. Tricia

Gomella is a Part-time Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her neonatology book was started while she was a neonatology Fellow at the University of Kentucky and was first published in 1988. When the 8th Edition was released in 2020, after 32 years of editing the book, she was honored with her name in the title. Dr. Leonard

Gomella, Department of Urology Chair, has a long-standing, popular medical student book along with his co-editor Dr. Steve Haist, the Associate Dean at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine Northern Kentucky Campus, that was first formally published in 1981. Originally due out in 2021, pandemic related delays moved their book to a 2022 release date with the 12th Edition renamed to recognize their long-standing commitment to the book through 40 years of publication. Both of these books have been translated into multiple foreign languages, with Gomella’s Neonatology published in 13 different languages and Gomella and Haist’s Clinicians Pocket Reference published in 6. As noted by Mr. Malley, “While the medical publishing world has become accustomed to eponymous titles such a Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine or Schwartz’s Principles of Surgery, a husband and wife team in this category in two different specialties is a first in the world of medical publishing.”