About Us

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Yale Urology is one of the leading academic urologic units in the nation, and has been recognized as one of the best urologic programs in the United States in U.S. News & World Report. The section specializes in the treatment of specific urologic subspecialties: oncology, pediatrics, neurourology and female urology, the management of stone disease, and minimally invasive surgery. Yale Urology continues to make contributions to education, research and clinical care. Members of the section maintain active NIH-supported research projects and Dr. Edward Uchio, Chief of Urology at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital, has significantly increased the clinical activity at the VA. Dr. Uchio’s main expertise lies in uro-oncology and minimally invasive modalities for the treatment of malignancies of the urinary tract. Dr. John Colberg, Director of Urologic Oncology, has an active clinical practice dealing with all aspects of urologic oncology and reconstructive urology. Dr. Bernard Lytton, Professor Emeritus, aids in these clinical pursuits. After a nationwide search, Dr. Dinesh Singh was recruited to be Director of Endourology and Minimally Invasive Surgery. Dr. Singh trained with Drs. Indy Gill and Steven Streem at the Cleveland Clinic and brings to the section a full gamut of laparoscopic expertise including experience with laparoscopic radical prostatectomies. Dr. Harris Foster serves as Director of Neurourology and Female Urology, and in addition to his clinical practice is a principal investigator on a multicenter NIH grant investigating the use of phytotherapeutic agents for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Section Chief Dr. Robert Weiss maintains a busy practice dealing with urologic abnormalities affecting the pediatric population.

Ongoing Research

Urology continues to contribute to basic and clinical urologic research. A research group headed by Dr. Weiss, Dr. Jamshid Latifpour, and Marcia Wheeler possesses an NIH research grant on “Age-Dependent Factors in Ureteral-Vesical Function.” This grant had previously received the first Merit Award given by the NIH to an urologist. Dr. Latifpour also possesses an NIH grant titled, “The Effects of Diabetes on the Urinary Tract, Biochemical and Functional Changes in Diabetic Bladder.” Dr. Latifpour, working with Dr. Foster, tests the hypothesis that long-term administration of alpha-adrenergic antagonists causes differential alterations in the molecular, biochemical and functional properties of alpha-adrenergic receptors in the genitourinary tract. They are specifically looking at the long-term effectiveness of alpha-1 adrenergic receptor antagonists in the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms secondary to BPH. Meanwhile, Dr. Foster continues as Chairman of the NIH-NIDDK-sponsored interstitial cystitis collaborative research network. Dr. Weiss, Marcia Wheeler and Dr. Daniel Eisenberg, who was on an NIH training grant in the section of Urology, developed transgenic mice that over-express the anti-apoptotic gene survivin or a nonfunctional, non-phosphorylatable mutant survivin. Using these mice, they have embarked on studies of signaling pathways linking bladder inflammation and survivin inhibition of apoptosis. With Dr. Justin Cohen, a resident in urology, and Dr. Uchio, they are investigating means of employing survivin siRNA in the treatment of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder in a rat model. Dr. Uchio is also investigating the role of the Von Hippel Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor pathway in renal cancer and the effects of the hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) pathway in tumor genesis using siRNA.