The Swiss Continence Foundation Award: promoting the next generation in neuro-urology and functional urology.

Abstract

Neuro-urology and functional urology are usually under-represented in the oncology dominated urological world. However, the prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) is high and will increase further due to the increasing ageing population 1. Also more and more neurological patients will require professional neuro-urological consultation and management due to the high prevalence and incidence of several neurological diseases with frequent and severe impairment of lower urinary tract (LUT) function. LUT dysfunction not only impairs the quality of life of affected patients but also decreases productivity at home and work, resulting subsequently not only in the directly related costs of diagnosis and treatment but also in a significant economic burden for each society and healthcare system 2-4. Hence, neuro-urology and functional urology are highly relevant medical specialties in great demand. Moreover, neuro-urology and functional urology are young, innovative, and highly dynamic disciplines bridging neurological, gynecological, gastroenterological, and urological aspects of diagnosis and management allowing a significant look beyond each medical specialty and thus offering many career options in the clinic and research or both. Only in recent decades has it been progressively appreciated that the bladder is more than just a simple sack storing and releasing urine. The bladder wall is literally ‘alive’ comprising highly interactive layers communicating through a variety of receptors and neurotransmitters 5. Also, we have learnt about the supraspinal network influencing LUT control and its alterations in disease or in response to interventions 6, 7. Despite such advances, many physiological and pathophysiological questions still remain unanswered. In addition, there is a limited choice of treatments and the existing treatments have resulted in only slight improvements. Hence, there is urgent need for more: More development and improvement of diagnostics and treatments, more basic understanding on the pathophysiology of LUT dysfunction, and, most importantly, more young clinicians and researchers taking care of patients and future research. We need young appropriately trained and highly motivated clinicians and researchers to build the future of this speciality. Thus, it is our duty to support and encourage young talents in neuro-urology and functional urology, to retain them in the field, and to attract more to join. The Swiss Continence Foundation Award (http://www.swisscontinencefoundation.ch) represents such support for young talents. It comes with prize money of CHF 10 000 and is awarded to the best of the candidates who have been invited from all incoming award applications to present their current work in neuro-urology and functional urology to an international expert jury and the auditorium of the International Neuro-Urology Meeting. This year, The Swiss Continence Foundation Award has been awarded for the second time during the International Neuro-Urology Meeting in Zürich, Switzerland (Figs 1,2) and the prize-winning work of Véronique Phé entitled ‘Foxp3 expression serves as a marker of squamous cell differentiation and aggressive pathology of urothelial carcinomas in neurological patients’, is published in this BJUI supplement 8. Assembly of the award jury and award candidates at The Swiss Continence Foundation Award ceremony 2014. The invited candidates presented their current work in neuro-urology and functional urology during the 3rd International Neuro-Urology Meeting, 28–30 August 2014 in Zürich, Switzerland. From left to right, back row: Thomas M. Kessler, Ulrich Mehnert, Gommert A. van Koeveringe, Emmanuel Chartier-Kastler, Helmut Madersbacher, Francisco Cruz, Véronique Phé, Claudius Füllhase, Bahareh Abtahi. Front row: Jetske van Breda, Katarina Tudor, Tom Macrelissen, Saladin H. M. Alloussi, Mohammad Rahnama'i. The Chairmen of The Swiss Continence Foundation together with the current Swiss Continence Foundation Award 2014 winner Véronique Phé and the very first award winner form last year, Claudius Füllhase. All Swiss Continence Award winners become members of the Swiss Continence Foundation Award Alumni Circle and will be invited to all future International Neuro-Urology Meetings as guests of honour. From left to right: Thomas M. Kessler, Véronique Phé, Claudius Füllhase, Ulrich Mehnert. It was a great pleasure for all to have these young talents in the field among the more established experts, thereby providing them a platform for knowledge exchange, making new contacts, and career building. We are delighted to announce next year's Award and encourage all young (age ≤35 years) clinicians and researchers but also all research group leaders and clinical programme directors working in the field of neuro-urology and functional urology to motivate their suitable candidates to apply for The Swiss Continence Foundation Award 2015. Detailed application criteria are available at http://www.swisscontinencefoundation.ch. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.