From Bench to Bedside: The Future of Multidisciplinary Urology Research
Summary
- Researchers, clinicians and surgeons fueled the future of multidisciplinary research at the annual Desai Sethi Urology Institute research retreat.
- DSUI Scientific Director Dr. Nima Sharifi urged attendees to connect the science to the clinical side and develop more effective treatments for urologic cancer patients.
- Dr. Jonathan Katz is developing an autonomous ureteroscope to improve surgical outcomes with kidney stone removal.
Researchers, clinicians and surgeons collaborated and fueled the future of multidisciplinary research at the annual Desai Sethi Urology Institute (DSUI) research retreat at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Celebrating the unique ecosystem of DSUI, where basic science, translational discovery and clinical practice co-exist under one roof, participants brainstormed ways to build more bridges between the clinic and the lab, highlighted groundbreaking research underway and discussed challenges ahead.
“The DSUI is truly a one-of-its-kind, multidisciplinary institute,” said Dipen J. Parekh, M.D., founding director of DSUI, chief executive officer of UHealth–University of Miami Health System and executive vice president for health affairs at the University of Miami. “Look around this room and it is filled with people from multiple specialties who all have their primary appointment with the DSUI. We have medical oncologists, translational scientists, biomedical engineers, statisticians and nutritionists. There are so many dynamic types of research initiatives, ranging from pure lab basic science research to high-level computational engineering and AI-driven research, and it is all happening under one umbrella.”
Partnership Powers Progress
Leaders urged attendees to think outside the box and pursue strategic partnerships and calculated risk-taking. Breaking down silos across departments, they said, would enhance protocol quality and research impact.
“We are really connecting the science we do at the lab with the clinical side,” said Nima Sharifi, M.D., professor of urology at the Miller School and DSUI scientific director. “Cancer and other urological diseases have very clear limitations in the clinic for treatment, and we just have to do better. The ultimate goal here is to discuss what we can collaboratively do as a team – scientists in the lab, clinicians in the clinics, surgeons in the O.R. – to really understand urological diseases and to develop better treatments.”
Success, he said, should be measured by discoveries others can build on rather than merely by the quantity of papers published.
Extending the theme of collaboration, researchers reminded clinicians to refer clinic patients to ongoing clinical trials. Men with overactive bladder after treatment for prostate cancer? Refer to the InterStim study, which is testing sacral neuromodulation. Women with bladder cancer who experience pelvic floor issues? Refer to the SPIN Program, a study designed to improve their care.
Multiple presenters credited in-house regulatory specialists for smoothing approvals, an asset many peer institutions do not offer.
Groundbreaking Work in Urology
DSUI researchers convert ambitious ideas into patient-centered solutions. Speakers highlighted a pathway from discovery to patient impact, whether it was novel hormone targets, metabolic biomarkers, autonomous surgery tools or organ-chip systems for drug screening.
Pedro Freitas, M.D., a DSUI urologic oncology fellow, presented a one-of-a-kind renal cell carcinoma study that involved selective blood sampling from renal arteries and veins to profile metabolic changes. His work revealed significant differences in metabolites between cancer patients and healthy donors, identifying biomarkers for tumor aggressiveness. The potential to improve treatment decisions and point to potential therapeutic targets is significant.
“This project materializes what this institute is about,” he said. “We have the lab, the clinical research team, the surgeons, and so I’m thankful to everybody here because this can probably be done in very few places and I’m very glad to be at one of them.”
Emad Ibrahim, M.D., associate professor of urology and neurological surgery at the Miller School and director of the Male Fertility Research Program at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, is studying the semen of spinal cord injury patients and shedding light on fertility drugs that could help those interested in fathering children.
Jonathan Katz, M.D., assistant professor of urology at the Miller School, wants to move robotics from the lab to the operating room. He is developing an autonomous ureteroscope to improve surgical outcomes with kidney stone removal and he can position it within five to 10 millimeters of his planned trajectory. Dr. Katz is using simulations to generate synthetic data for training and validation.
Ashutosh Agarwal, Ph.D., a University of Miami associate professor of engineering and director of engineering and applied physics for DSUI, is investigating on-chip technologies that replicate human tissue environments. Amid a shifting regulatory landscape in which regulators are moving away from animal models, Dr. Agarwal’s approach would provide a platform for testing drugs and conducting immune interaction studies.
Several presentations touched on lifestyle medicine as primary intervention or a way to modify risk, with one prostate cancer nutrition trial comparing the impact of low-carbohydrate versus low-fat diets on PSA and tumor biology. These studies underscore recognition by DSUI that lifestyle factors are integral to precision urology.
Moving Forward: Pitfalls and Promise
Presenters highlighted current challenges, including federal funding pressure, talent migration from academia to corporate giants like Google, NVIDIA and Amazon, immigration bottlenecks and declining interest in STEM fields. Still, the future is bright, Dr. Sharifi said.
“Every day there is something new,” he said. “It doesn’t move as fast as we want, but we are definitely making progress.”
The retreat was a big step forward and leaders vowed to continue the conversations.
“We are inspiring collaboration and sparking new direction to push the boundaries of what is possible in urologic research,” said Mark Gonzalgo, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., professor and chair of urology at the Miller School and director of DSUI’s Urologic Oncology Fellowship. “It’s about teamwork and teambuilding. We have so many resources at DSUI and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine that allow us to take full advantage of the opportunities that are here to grow and really push the science of urology forward.”
Tags: Department of Urology, Desai Sethi Urology Institute, Dr. Ashutosh Agarwal, Dr. Emad Ibrahim, Dr. Jonathan Katz, Dr. Mark Gonzalgo, Dr. Nima Sharifi, fertility preservation, men's health, Newsroom, overactive bladder, prostate cancer, technology, urology