In the urology clinic, the surgeons divide their time between patient care, medical education and research.
The starting point of a research study is a question, the nature of which depends on the surgeons’ interest and, often, their collaborators’ work at the Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Kevin Loughlin has developed several new devices to urology, including a fibroscope for the treatment of kidney stones and urethral strictures, and a Doppler for laparoscopic surgery. With laboratory scientists, he investigated several blood and urine tests for the detection of cancer.
Dr. Michael O’Leary had studied several types of urinary tract infections before conducting a series of clinical trials on chronic pelvic pain, a disease often misdiagnosed as infection. He also worked with health survey experts to develop several questionnaires which are now used internationally. Recently, he was an investigator on two prostate cancer prevention trials.
Dr. Steve Chang conducts research on the cost of radiological and surgical procedures and works on decision support systems for the management of prostate and kidney cancers.
