Editorial introductions

Abstract

Current Opinion in Urology was launched in 1991. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The field of urology is divided into 12 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Editors and Section Editors for this issue. EDITORS Michael MarbergerMichael MarbergerMichael Marberger, MD, FRCS (ed), is a native of Innsbruck, Austria. He graduated from medical school there and completed his residency in urology at the Innsbruck University Hospital. From 1973 to 1980 he served as staff member at the Department of Urology, University of Mainz, Germany and from 1980 to 1990 as Urologist-in-Chief of the Department of Urology, Rudolfstiftung, Vienna, Austria. From 1 January 1990 until 31 September 2011 he was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Urology of the University of Vienna Medical School, Austria. He now is Professor Emeritus at this institution. Dr Marberger has published over 600 articles in peer reviewed journals and edited five text books on urology. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of Current Opinion in Urology and on the editorial boards of several major urological journals. He serves/served as officer on the boards of major international professional societies such as the EAU, the SIU and the Endourology Society. He received numerous awards, among them: the Dr.h.c. of the Semmelweis University Budapest; the Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; the SIU - Yamanouchi/Astellas Lifetime Achievement Award; the “Willy Gregoir Medal” of the European Association of Urology; the “St. Paul's Medal” of the British Association of Urological Surgeons; the Certificate of Achievement Award of the American Association of Urology; the ESOU Life Time Achievement Award of the EAU Section of Oncological Urology; and the “Harry M. Spence Medal” of the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons. He is an honorary member of 20 Urological Societies, among them the American Urological Association, Canadian Urological Association, German Association of Urology, Australasian Society of Urology, Urological Association of Asia, Dutch Urological Association and the South African Urological Association. He was Congress President of the 2006 and 2011 EAU-Congresses in Vienna and now is President Elect of the Societe d’Urologie Internationale (SIU). Johannes W. ViewegJohannes W. ViewegJohannes W. Vieweg, MD, FACS is Professor and Founding Chairman of the Department of Urology and Executive Director of the Prostate Disease Center at the University of Florida (UF), Gainesville, Florida, USA. He also holds the Huizenga Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Urologic Oncology at UF and is an attending surgeon at the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, USA. The American Urological Association Foundation has recently appointed him to the position of Research Council Chair. Dr Vieweg received his medical degree from the Technical University of Munich, Germany and began his residency training at the University of Ulm, Department of Urology, Germany. After relocating to the United States, he received three years of postdoctoral training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA prior to completing his urology residency training at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA. After a nine-year tenure on the Duke urology faculty, he joined the University of Florida in July 2006. Dr Vieweg is an internationally recognized authority in urologic oncology and has a longstanding, focused interest in cancer immunology and gene-based therapies. In addition to his administrative and clinical responsibilities, he is spearheading a productive research program focusing on the development of novel treatments for patients with advanced urologic malignancies. Dr Vieweg's projects also involve the development and testing of “targeted therapeutics”, as well as improved prediction models for therapeutic success. Reflective of the quality of his research program are numerous manuscripts published in outstanding peer-reviewed journals and continuous NIH funding for over twelve years. Shahrokh F. ShariatShahrokh F. ShariatDr Shariat is currently Professor and Chairman of the Department of Urology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna General Hospital, Vienna, Austria. He is also Adjunct Professor of Urology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, USA, and Adjunct Professor of Urology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA. He has published more than 680 peer-reviewed research papers and a dozen book chapters, is the holder of five patents stemming from his research into prostate and bladder cancer, and is the recipient of various national and international awards. He is currently spearheading several collaborative multicenter groups (Bladder Cancer Research Consortium, The Bladder Cancer Detection Group, and The Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma Collaboration) and prospective clinical trials. He is a member of various academic societies and a journal, meeting abstract, and grant reviewer for numerous national and international organizations. He is an editorial board member of various journals including European Urology, BJU International, World Journal of Urology, Immunotherapy, and Journal of Men's Health among others. His research focuses on urologic oncology – molecular mechanisms, markers, early detection, natural history, treatment, translational and outcomes research. Specifically, Dr Shariat has been working on the discovery, testing, and validation of molecular markers associated with the biological and clinical behavior of prostate and urothelial cancers. His laboratory research focuses on integrative genomics and epigenomics of urothelial carcinoma with the goal of designing personalized therapeutic strategies. SECTION EDITORS Oliver ReichOliver ReichOliver Reich is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Urology at Klinikum Munich-Harlaching, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Teaching-Hospital in Munich, Germany. His main clinical and research interests are BPH and uro-oncology. He obtained his training in urology in St. Gallen, Switzerland; San Francisco, USA; Mainz and Munich, Germany. He serves as a member of numerous organizations including membership officer of the Urological Research Society (URS), board member of the EAU Resident's Office, Secretary of the German Working Group on BPH and others. He is member of the editorial board of several journals including European Urology and World Journal of Urology. Dr Reich has published over 150 original manuscripts and dozens of book chapters. Concerning graduate and postgraduate education activities, he serves as senior instructor of the Munich-Harvard-Alliance since 2002. In the past, Dr Reich received several international and national awards and was a former EAU-AUA-Exchange Scholar. Dr Reich has published extensively with a focus on BPH and clinically has pioneered Greenlight laser surgery in Germany in 2003. Daniel W. LinDaniel W. LinDr Lin is currently Professor and Chief of Urologic Oncology in the Department of Urology and holds the Bridges Endowed Professorship for Prostate Cancer Research at the University of Washington, USA. Dr Lin received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his medical degree from Vanderbilt University before a urology residency at the University of Washington and clinical urologic oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, followed by an American Foundation for Urologic Disease (AFUD) Physician Scholar Award at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr Lin's major basic/translational research interests are in prostate chemoprevention and genomic biomarkers for aggressive prostate cancer, and his major clinical research efforts are in prostate cancer active surveillance and management of high-risk prostate cancer. Dr Lin is the lead PI for the Canary Prostate Active Surveillance Study (PASS) which is a multi-institutional, prospective, international collaborative effort in biomarker discovery and validation in active surveillance. Dr Lin has co-authored over 150 papers, chapters, and editorials and is associate editor of three journals. Dr Lin serves on various national committees including the guideline panels for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and the American Urological Association (AUA). Dr Lin receives funding from multiple peer-reviewed grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA).