Dr. A. Lenore Ackerman was born in Los Angeles, CA, but grew up in cities throughout the U.S. from southern California to Maine. She settled in New Haven, CT, where she earned a degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University. She continued at Yale to complete a Ph.D. in Immunology, focusing on molecular mechanisms of antigen presentation in dendritic cells.

After realizing a desire to pursue translational medicine, she joined the Medical Scientist Training Program at Yale, receiving an M.D. degree. She completed her internship in General Surgery and began a residency in Urology at the University of California, Los Angeles. During residency, under the mentorship of Dr. Larissa Rodriguez, her research focused on central nervous system changes in an animal model of interstitial cystitis induced by psychological stress.

After the completion of her residency, she continued on at UCLA as a fellow in Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery. Her current research focuses on the role of host-microbe interactions in the etiology of benign lower urinary tract disorders and how this can be exploited to improve care.

She now specializes in the treatment of women with incontinence, voiding dysfunction, and pelvic floor disorders, with a particular interest in geriatric urology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she serves as the Director of Research for the Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery.

Ashok Agarwal, Ph.D., HCLD, is the Director of the Andrology Center and the Director of Research at the American Center for Reproductive Medicine. He holds these positions at Cleveland Clinic, where he is a Professor at the Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and, since 1993, Senior Staff in the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Obstetrics-Gynecology, Women’s Health Institute, Anatomic Pathology, and Immunology.

Ashok Agarwal received his Ph.D. in 1983 from Banaras Hindu University, India. He did his post-doctorate training in Reproductive Biology under a fellowship from The Rockefeller Foundation at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He was an Instructor in Surgery and then an Assistant Professor of Urology at Harvard Medical School from 1988 to 1992. Ashok was appointed in 1993 by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio, as the Head of the Clinical Andrology Center, which over 28 years under his leadership, has become a center of excellence in the United States for the diagnosis of male infertility and fertility preservation of men with oncological conditions. He is board certified as a Clinical Laboratory Director in Andrology by the American Board of Bioanalysis and an Inspector for the College of American Pathologists “Reproductive Laboratory Program” for accreditation of Andrology & IVF Laboratories. Ashok served as the Chairman of the Board of the American College of Embryology from 2009 to 2012. He is included in a number of biographical reference directories such as “International WHO’S WHO Historical Society”, “International WHO’S WHO of Professionals”, “Marquis who’s who” and “Strathmore’s Who’s Who”. Ashok is the recipient of several awards, such as the 2011 Innovator Award from Cleveland Clinic Innovations for the development of “Remote Sperm Banking Kits”; Star Award from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine from 2011 to 2020; Scholarship in Teaching Awards from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine for both the annual Summer Internship Course in 2011, 2013 and 2014, and for the Training Program in Advanced Reproductive Techniques in 2013 and 2014. Recently Ashok was recognized by the American College of Embryology as the ”IVF Expert of the year for 2019” for significant contributions to human reproductive embryology. Dr. Agarwal has been recognized for his innovative Online educational initiative during the pandemic (2020-21) by the following organizations: The Mexican Association of Reproductive Medicine, Arab School of Urology, Royal College of Ob-Gyn in Egypt, the American College of Embryology, French-speaking Society of Andrology.

Ashok has published over 813 scientific papers and review articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, authored over 225 book chapters, and presented over 830 papers at both national and international scientific meetings. His Hirsch index (h-index) as of December 2021 is 149 on Google Scholar, 107 on Scopus, while his citation count is 89,188 on Google Scholar and 42,384 in Scopus. Ashok is ranked as the #1 author in the world in the fields of Male Infertility/ Andrology and Human Assisted Reproduction in Scopus, based on his number of peer-reviewed publications, citation scores, and h-index. Ashok is an editor of over 44 medical textbooks/manuals related to male infertility, ART, fertility preservation, DNA damage, and antioxidants. He is the guest editor of 14 special journal issues. Ashok is a member or office bearer of several professional societies including the Alpha Scientist in Reproductive Medicine, American Society for Reproductive Medicine, American Society of Andrology, American Urological Association, Society for the Study of Male Reproduction, and Society for the Study of Male Reproduction and Urology. Ashok serves on the Editorial Board of Annals of Translational Medicine, Arab Journal of Urology, Asian Journal of Andrology, Basic and Clinical Andrology, Human Andrology, Human Fertility, International Brazilian Journal of Urology, International Journal of Fertility & Sterility, Reproductive BioMedicine Online, Reproductive Biology & Endocrinology, Translational Andrology and Urology, and The World Journal of Men’s Health. He is also an ad hoc reviewer of over 50 scientific journals.

Ashok is active in basic and clinical research and his laboratory has trained more than 525 basic scientists and clinical researchers from the United States and more than 55 countries. Ashok has been invited as a guest speaker at important international meetings in more than 25 countries. He has directed more than a dozen ART and Andrology Laboratory Workshops and Symposia in recent years. His laboratory has provided hands-on training in Embryology and Andrology techniques to 210 candidates from more than 40 countries. Ashok is the Program Director of a unique and highly successful Summer Internship Course in Reproductive Medicine. In the last 13 years, about 320 pre-med and medical students from across the United States and overseas have graduated from this highly competitive program. In 2020, Ashok started two novel remote learning programs due to the Covid pandemic; the first is an online summer mentorship that offers a six-week training in the art of scientific writing for publication. The program selected 28 undergraduate students from 12 institutions for this novel training in the summer of 2020. The second initiative is an online training in andrology and human-assisted reproduction. This highly focused virtual course offers training in a new module each month. In the last six months, over 5,000 participants from more than 80 countries have received their training and certificates.

Ashok is the recipient of over 110 research grants. His current research interests are identifying biological markers of oxidative stress, DNA damage, and apoptosis using proteomic research tools and bioinformatics analysis as well as preserving fertility in patients with cancer. Ashok is actively involved in laboratory and clinical studies assessing the efficacy of certain antioxidants in improving male fertility.

–  Ex-Professor, SN Medical College & University Hospital, Agra, India

–  Past President, Urological Society of India, 2019-20.

–  Founder President, SAARC Association of Urological Surgeons, 2019-22.

–  University topper in Medical College during graduation. Multiple gold medals, distinction / honours in all subjects. Best student of Class of ’79.

–  Orations, Gold medals & awards: Himadri Sarkar Oration of Urological Society of India 2021, Urology Gold Medal of USI 2021, UAA lecture in HUA meeting Hong Kong 2019, USI Lecture in NAUS meeting Kathmandu 2019, USI Lecture in BAUSCON Dhaka 2019, SLAUS Lecture and Gold Medal Colombo 2018, UAA Lecture at the EAU Meeting London 2017, President’s Gold Medal of USI 2016, Ranganadha Rao Oration of SOGUS 2016-17, Marudhara Jodhpur Oration of NZUSI 2013, PN Kataria Oration of NZUSI 2010, PV Rao Oration of USI 2006.

–  Co-Editor, Journal of Case Reports and Images in Urology. Member, Editorial board of Indian Journal of Urology, 2015-22.

–  Reviewer for multiple journals: J Endourology, Urological Research, International J Urology, Urology (Gold Journal), Urolithiasis, Journal of Medical Case Reports, Canadian Urological Association Journal, Indian Journal of Surgery, Indian Journal of Medical Research, National Medical Journal of India, etc.

–  Around 100 national & international publications, including several book chapters in textbooks and reference books. Authored / edited several reference books, including ‘Minimally Invasive PCNL’ by Springer Nature.

–  Multiple Best paper and poster awards in national & international conferences. More than 300 guest lectures & 200 presentations in national and international conferences.

–  One of the pioneers of Endourology in India since 1980’s. Popularized several new techniques including Tubeless PCNL, ultrasound-guided access, Mini-PCNL with high-power Laser.

–  Conducted many live operative endourology workshops in Endourology at national and international level. Regularly organizing workshops and training programs in Endourology for national and international trainees.

Dr. Gopal Badlani is Vice Chairman of the Department of Urology, Professor of Urology & Gynecology at Wake Forest University. He is currently the director of the Female Pelvic health unit & the FPM&RS fellowship. He is the Secretary of the American Association of Genito-Urinary Surgeons & was the Secretary General of the American Urological Association. He is on the editorial board of several journals, was managing editor of the Journal of Endourology, Editor of several textbooks, and has more than 250 publications as well as book chapters. He was President of the New York Section of the American Urological Association, past President of the Endourology Society, and a past member of the Board of the Society of Urodynamics and Female Urology. He has been invited nationally and internationally as a visiting professor, conference participant, and teacher.

Dr. Badlani graduated from T.N. Medical College in Mumbai, India. He completed his urological training at Long Island Jewish and then went on to do a fellowship in Neurourology at Baylor University in Houston. His specialty is voiding dysfunction, dealing with urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse in women, male incontinence from prostate surgery and neurourological disease. His research lab has been funded by the NIH on the etiology of interstitial cystitis & regenerative medicine. Dr. Badlani has done a number of trials for new minimally invasive treatments for benign prostate obstruction. He has served as a member of the NIDDK council.

Dr. Badlani heads the Female Pelvic health unit at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center & Section Chief of Urology at the VA hospital in Salisbury, N.C.

Dr. Badlani’s special interest is volunteer work in low & middle-income countries. He was on the board of International Volunteers in Urology. He was awarded the B.C Roy medal by the President of India. He was named the national best doctor of the year by Castle Connolly in 2013. He was awarded lifetime achievement award by Endo Urology society in 2015.

Christopher Chapple is a Consultant Urological Surgeon at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, Honorary Professor at the University of Sheffield, and Visiting Professor at Sheffield Hallam University. He is particularly interested in the functional reconstruction of the lower urinary tract and the underlying pharmacological control mechanisms and provides a tertiary service in lower urinary tract reconstructive surgery.

He trained at the Middlesex Hospital where he completed his doctorate thesis. He continued there and the Institute of Urology in London for his sub-specialist training.

He is Secretary-General of the European Association of Urology, having previously been Chairman of the International Relations Committee, Adjunct Secretary General Responsible for Education, and Director of the European School of Urology. He was the Network Coordinator for the European Reference Network (ERN) for rare urogenital diseases and complex conditions (eUROGEN) from 2016-2019. He was the editor-in-chief of the journal Neurourology & Urodynamics from 2006-2016 and is on the editorial board of several international journals.

He is an active member of many urological associations and societies including the British Association of Urological Surgeons, the European Association of Urology, the International Continence Society, the Association of Academic European Urologists, and the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons.

He has chaired a number of guidelines initiatives including the NICE GDG on Male LUTS and the ICUD Consultation on Male LUTS. BAUS awarded him the St Peter’s medal in 2011, SUFU awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, and the International Continence Society made him the inaugural member of their Hall of Fame in 2020.

Prof. Chapple has co-authored 850+ articles, comments, and letters in peer-reviewed journals, and has written several chapters and books.

Dr Peggy Chu is the consultant urologist in Tuen Mun Hospital and the past president of the Hong Kong Urological Association, 2010-2012.

Dr Chu received her medical degree from the University of Hong Kong. She then received her urology training from Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Her overseas training took place at the Institute of Urology, University College London. After coming back from London, she continued to work in Queen Elizabeth Hospital until 2006; since then she continued her career at Tuen Mun Hospital.

Dr Peggy Chu specialises in reconstructive, neuro, and female urology. She led the team, including urologists from Princess Margaret Hospital and toxicologists from United Christian Hospital, which reported the first 10 cases in Hong Kong with contracted bladder and upper urinary tract damage associated with ketamine abuse. This discovery has raised the Hong Kong Government’s and the community’s awareness of the social problems associated with Ketamine abuse. She also provided an affidavit to the Hong Kong High Court, thus leading to more stringent guidelines on sentencing of ketamine abuse since June 2008. Dr Chu received the Outstanding Staff Award from Hong Kong Hospital Authority in 2009.

Dr Chu is the trustee of British Journal of Urology International since June 2019. Dr Chu had delivered the UAA lecture in the AUA 2019 in Chicago.

Niall Corcoran is a Melbourne-based urologist with an interest in prostate and bladder cancer. He completed his medical schooling and early surgical training in Dublin, before emigrating to Australia. He obtained a PhD in tumour biology from the University of Melbourne and his urology training in Victoria, before undertaking a uro-oncology fellowship at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

He heads the urology unit at Western Health in Melbourne, with further appointments at Royal Melbourne and Frankston Hospitals. He is an associate professor (research) in the Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne, where his group works in prostate cancer genomics, bio-markers, and early phase clinical trials.

Dr. Ralph V. Clayman is a graduate of Grinnell College and the University of California – San Diego, School of Medicine. Following his residency in Urology at the University of Minnesota, he completed an AUA research scholarship at the University of Texas – Southwestern studying cholesterol metabolism in renal cell cancer. He then spent relocated to Washington University in St. Louis; attaining the rank of Professor of Urology and Radiology.

In 1984, he initiated the first fellowship program in Endourology; more than 30 fellows have been trained, many of whom have current leadership positions in academic urology. In 1990, he and his surgical team performed the world’s first laparoscopic removal of a kidney. In January 2002, he became Chair of the newly formed Department of Urology at the University of California, Irvine; within four years, the department was listed among the top 20 programs in the country.

In 2009, he became Dean of the School of Medicine at UC Irvine, completing a 5-year term during which time the school of medicine secured full LCME accreditation, achieved a positive financial balance, opened over 750,000 square feet of new space, and initiated the first totally tablet based medical school curriculum. Based on input from medical school deans across the country, in 2016, he published a book focused on academic leadership entitled, “The Compleat Dean” which has sold over 1,000 copies.

Dr. Clayman is a co-founder of the Endourology Society and served as co-editor of the Journal of Endourology from 1986-2020. He holds 23 patents and has published over 475 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Presently he is a Distinguished Professor of Urology in the Department of Urology at UC Irvine and is the holder of an Endowed Chair in Endourology. He has an active clinical practice in urolithiasis and co-directs the Curiosity and Innovation endourology research laboratory and the fellowship program at UC Irvine.

James A. Eastham, MD, is Professor and Chief of the Urology Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Dr Eastham received his medical degree from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. He completed an internship in general surgery and a residency in urology at Los Angeles County – University of Southern California Medical Center. He went on to complete a fellowship in urologic oncology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Prior to his appointment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Dr Eastham was an assistant and associate professor in the Department of Urology at Louisiana State University in Shreveport and Chief of Urology at Overton-Brooks Veterans Administration Medical Center in Louisiana.

Dr Eastham’s research has focused on the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer, with a particular interest in improving oncologic and quality-of-life outcomes after radical prostatectomy.

He has authored or co-authored over 200 articles that have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of Urology, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Urology, and Transplantation. In addition, he has authored numerous book chapters, reviews, monographs, and abstracts.

He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of several professional societies including the American Urologic Association, the Society of Urologic Oncology, and Societé Internationale D’Urologie.

Professor Hui Jiang is the Director of PKU Third Hospital Andrology Department; President of China Sexology Association (CSA); President of the Global Chinese Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine and President-elected of Beijing Andrology Society.

His main research direction is the basic and clinical of male infertility. He has published more than 150 academic works in national journals, participated in more than 30 books, obtained more than 30 research funds, including the National key R & D Program, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and led more than 10 clinical studies of new drugs.

Dr. Pankaj is a University Certified Fellowship trained Genitourinary Reconstructive specialist at Pune, India. He completed master’s in general surgery from University of Mumbai where he secured second rank. He was awarded H S Bhat Gold Medal in the final exit examination conducted by the National Board, Urology (DNB) in 2010. For over 11 years, he has been actively associated with Centre for Reconstructive Urology, Pune working as a team member under Dr. Sanjay B Kulkarni, an eminent International Faculty and GURU.

Dr. Pankaj is passionate about his work, an avid researcher. His has innovated novel technique (MRI in Pelvic fractures) and a device (Penile retractor) which has won the third prize at BANTU, SIU 2017.He has recently published new step of Non-Transecting Bulbar Urethroplasty. His other innovations include Vicryl tackers for quilting in anterior urethroplasty. His work on 3-D printing of Pelvic fracture urethral injuries has won award at the IAUA meeting, Chicago,2019.

Pankaj won the prestigious IAUA Chakraborty Fellowship for 2018 and visited Cleveland Clinic.

He is multiple book chapters to his credit and over 92 Publications. He has been invited as Operating Faculty for Urethroplasty and hypospadias surgeries across India and has got opportunity to operate in more than 20 countries.

He is a faculty for GURS And University Fellowship program in Reconstructive Urology. He was elected as Board of Directors of GURS from 2016-19 and now continues as a Fellowship committee member.

He currently serves as Hon. Secretary of International Society of Reconstructive urology.

Dr Pankaj is happy to contribute in any role given to take forward the education and surgery in the field of Reconstructive Urology.

Education & Training:
I graduated from Korea University and got my Ph.D at Korea University in 1997. From 2004-2005, I studied urethral regeneration at Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine in Winston Salem, NC, USA.

Current Affiliation:
Current positions are Professor of Korea University Medical School and Director of Korea University Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Academically, I am President of APSMHA (Asia Pacific Society for Men’s Health and Aging) and Congress Chair of 2023 APSSM Biennial Meeting in Korea and APSSM President-Elect. I am a former President of KSSMA (Korean Society for Sexual Medicine and Andrology), Vice-president of KSRM (Korean Society for Reproductive Medicine) and Secretary General of APSSM (Asia Pacific Society for Sexual Medicine).

Research Interests:
Besides andrology as the main specialty, my academic interests are testosterone in LOH, nocturia and laser in prostate, filler for penile augmentation and STING in VUR, urogenital reconstructive surgery, and endoscopic surgery including robotics as Urologist. My current R&D projects are based on Regenerative Medicine and Translational Research.

Publications:
I am the author of book chapters in 11 textbooks regarding Andrology, Aging & Men’s Health, and Regenerative Medicine and have over 160 peer-reviewed articles in International Journals and had hundreds of invited lectures.

Prof Teng A Ong is currently the President of the Malaysian Urological Association (MUA). He is also the head of the Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

Prof Ong was the BJUI Scholar from 2005 to 2007 during his training period in urology. Since then, he has been active in promoting international collaboration in education and research. At the moment, he is a board member of the Urological Association of Asia (UAA) and Societe Internationale d’Urologie (SIU).

Uro-oncology is the focus of the clinical and research activities of Prof Ong. He was instrumental in establishing the first uro-onco clinic in Malaysia, in collaboration with the oncologists. He championed the M-CaP prostate cancer registry for Malaysia (working together with the A-CaP group). His group had recently published the survival data of patients with prostate cancer in Malaysia.

On a lighter note, one of the favourite pastimes of Prof Ong is playing the violin (at an amateur level). He believes that it will improve hand dexterity and thus, surgical skills (level of evidence: level 5).

Dr de la Rosette is Professor of Urology, at Istanbul Medipol Mega University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkiye since 2018. Upon completion of his medical degree and urology residency at St Radboud University Hospital in Nijmegen, the Netherlands he worked there as a urologist from 1992 – 2002.

He was appointed Professor and Chair at the department of urology at Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands from 2002-2020. His main fields of interest are minimally invasive surgery and endourology with a special focus on ablative treatments and urological ultrasound.

He is founding co-chairman of the EAU Section of Uro-Technology (ESUT) and the founding chairman of the European Association of Urology (EAU) working party on BPH guidelines. He served as a board member of the Society of Endourology during 1996-2016.

He is strongly committed to research and is the founding chair of the CROES (Clinical Research Office of the Endourology Society). He holds, since 2016, the position of General Secretary of the Societe International d’Urologie.

Dr de la Rosette is (co)author of over 700 peer-reviewed publications and has authored many book chapters.

Dr. Scarpato is an Assistant Professor of Urology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she completed her fellowship in Urologic Oncology. Her clinical interests focus on the management of prostate and bladder cancer. Additionally, she serves as the Program Director for the Urology Residency. She is dedicated to resident and medical student education with active interests in surgical simulation, mentorship, and curricular design.

Dr. Simon Talbot is a board-certified plastic and hand surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He specializes in hand surgery and microsurgery and is Director of Upper Extremity Transplantation.

Dr. Talbot’s research interests include upper extremity transplantation, nerve regeneration optimization, and psychosocial aspects of major extremity surgery. He is funded by the US Department of Defense and runs research in collaboration with surgeons at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences.

Administratively, Dr Talbot is the co-chair of the BWH Physicians’ Council. He is heavily involved in optimizing patient care through a focus on physician wellbeing: lecturing, writing and consulting nationally.

Dr Jeremy Teoh is currently the Assistant Dean (External Affairs) and Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has primary interests in bladder cancer and prostate cancer.

For bladder cancer, he is leading a multi-centre randomized controlled trial on transurethral en bloc resection of bladder tumour. He has also developed a global consensus statement to standardize the en bloc resection approach.

For prostate cancer, he has published extensively on the adverse events related to androgen deprivation therapy. He has also helped conduct a clinical trial on the use of the da Vinci Single-Port Surgical System in radical prostatectomy.

Jeremy has received numerous research grants with a total funding of more than HKD 30 million. He has published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as European Urology, Journal of Urology and BJU International. He was the Chairperson of the Younger Fellows Chapter of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, and he has been the Director of the Lions Kidney Educational Centre & Research Foundation since 2016.

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.

Dr. Vincent Tse is currently Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, Australia, and Consultant Urologist at Concord Hospital and Macquarie University Hospital, Sydney. His special interest is in the investigation and management of all types of urinary incontinence, Urodynamics, bladder functional disorders, urethral strictures and pelvic organ prolapse surgery. He is a member of the Standardisation and Terminology Committee of the International Continence Society (ICS), and the current chair of the Female and Functional Urology Section of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand (USANZ), and the scientific co-chair for ICS Melbourne 2021 Annual Meeting.

Dr Tse has been an invited speaker and surgeon, both locally and internationally, including the USA, Europe, and Asia. He and his team recently published the first bi-national guideline on management of the adult overactive bladder in Australia and New Zealand. He has co-edited two books on urinary incontinence and the pelvic floor and authored over 50 papers and abstracts in this area. He is an advocate of multidisciplinary care in the management of incontinence and pelvic floor disorders.

Consultant Urologist – Pedder Health
Honorary Consultant – Department of Urology, St Paul’s Hospital

Prof Stephen Yang is a graduate of the School of Medicine, National Taiwan University in 1985 and finished resident training at National Taiwan University Hospital in 1991. His main research fields are pediatric urology, lower urinary tract dysfunction, urinary tract infection, and minimally invasive surgeries. Up to date, he has published more than 180 peer-review articles.

He currently serves as:
– Professor of Urology and Vice Superintendent of Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi University
– President of Asian Association of UTI and STI (AAUS)
– Former President of Asia Pacific Association of Pediatric Urology (APAPU, 2018-2021)
– Board member and Chairman of Standardization Committee of International Children Continence Society (ICCS, 2014-2022)
– Board members of Taiwan Continence Society (TCS)

Dr. Shingo Yamamoto graduated Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University in 1987, and started his carrier as a urologist. He studied virulence factors of uropathogenic E. coli as a postgraduate school student in Kyoto University, and also studied immunology as a visiting scientist at Immunobiology Vaccine Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. He has been Professor and Chairman, Department of Urology, Hyogo College of Medicine since 2009. Recently, he has contributed to development of several domestic or international guidelines concerning urinary tract infections and surgical site infections.