Rising Stars: Desai Sethi Urology Institute Physician-Researchers Dot the AUA Constellation
Summary
- DSUI’s Dr. Chad Ritch was named to the American Urologic Association’s 2025-2026 AUA Leadership Program while Dr. Mark Gonzalgo is the AUA’s education chair.
- Dr. Sanoj Punnen is a leader in the AUA’s Clinical Trials Collective and Dr. Raveen Syan a part of its Early Career Investigator Showcase.
- DSUI Founding Director Dr. Dipen Parekh says the leadership positions reflect the quality of its faculty.
The recent American Urological Association (AUA) annual meeting demonstrated faculty members of Desai Sethi Urology Institute (DSUI), part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, have substantial impact on the influential organization for urologists and are global leaders in the specialty.
“DSUI has more urology faculty stepping up to help lead the AUA than ever,” said Dipen J. Parekh, M.D., DSUI’s founding director and chief operating officer at UHealth—the University of Miami Health System “This speaks volumes about the quality and commitment of our faculty members to patient care and the specialty’s future.”
AUA2025 is the world’s largest urology meeting and the AUA produces the most widely read and cited journal in the field. It’s the specialty’s voice on issues impacting patients and urologists, and the AUA drives quality care with guidelines and scientific statements.
With more than 23,000 members worldwide, there is no better way to influence urology than to be among the leaders of the AUA, according to Dr. Parekh.
Urology Leadership
DSUI’s Chad Ritch, M.D., M.B.A., associate professor of urologic oncology at the Miller School, was selected to participate in the highly competitive 2025-2026 AUA Leadership Program.
Dr. Ritch was among 28 urologists selected for the program, reflecting Dr. Ritch’s professional achievements and leadership in urology. The program sets urologists on track to be future AUA leaders.
A member of the AUA guideline panel for the management of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, Dr. Ritch will now participate in AUA’s in-depth leadership training, networking and mentoring opportunities.
Influencing Urology Education
As AUA’s Office of Education chair, DSUI Professor and Vice Chair Mark Gonzalgo, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., will work to ensure the quality and medical accuracy of educational content provided by the organization. At AUA2025, Dr. Gonzalgo highlighted the opportunity for hands-on skills trainings in addition to traditional learning platforms.
Dr. Gonzalgo will serve a four-year term as education chair, overseeing nine committees and workgroups and leading development of the association’s educational products.
Dr. Gonzalgo is a longstanding and active AUA member who has served in many roles throughout the last two decades.
Urology Clinical Trials
As part of his leadership responsibilities with the AUA’s Clinical Trials Collective (AUACTC), Sanoj Punnen, M.D., DSUI’s professor of urologic oncology and vice chair of research, uses his experience as a successful principal investigator to advance global medical research.
AUACTC has tapped a team of clinical trial expert physicians to develop and implement a comprehensive physician education dissemination plan. The plan’s goal is to enhance awareness, improve trial site practices, train navigators, promote effective communication and streamline access to clinical trials.
Dr. Punnen oversees the Miami Active Surveillance Trial (MAST) and Marker Driven Selection of Patients for Prostate Biopsy and Management (MDSelect) trials. At AUA2025, he presented abstracts from those studies and participated in an AUACTC-related panel, Collaboration of Three Worlds: Independent Practice, Academia and Pharma.
A Showcase for Early-Career Urology Investigators
DSUI’s Raveen Syan, M.D., assistant professor of clinical urology at the Miller School, was selected for the AUA’s Early Career Investigator Showcase. Dr. Syan gave a podium presentation during the event to discuss her work on improving outcomes in pelvic floor disorders for minority populations and female bladder cancer survivors.
The honor recognized Dr. Syan’s commitment to early-career investigator success. The AUA named Dr. Syan to AUANews’ editorial board as the women’s health expert associate editor. She also serves as an early-career editor for the Journal of Urology.
Dr. Syan was recently accepted into the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine and Urogenital Reconstruction’s (SUFU) Early Career Committee. The committee focuses on developing educational and research efforts and is considered a steppingstone to SUFU executive committee roles.
“In each of these cases, our faculty members chose to look beyond the incredible work they do in urology care and research to contribute to the greater good of our specialty,” Dr. Parekh said. “It’s because of leaders like Drs. Ritch, Gonzalgo, Punnen and Syan that urology’s future looks bright.”
Tags: a, American Urological Association, Department of Urology, Desai Sethi Urology Institute, Dr. Chad Ritch, Dr. Dipen Parekh, Dr. Mark Gonzalgo, Dr. Raveen Syan, Dr. Sanoj Punnen, urology