Stanford Urology Hosts the 101st Clinical Society of GU Surgeons Conference

From November 7–9, 2024, Stanford Urology proudly hosted the 101st annual meeting of the Clinical Society of Genitourinary Surgeons (CSGUS) at the Stanford School of Medicine. This gathering, hosted by Stanford Urology Chair Eila Skinner, MD, brought together over 40 current and former chairs of urology from leading institutions across the United States, many of whom were joined by their partners.

The conference began with an engaging keynote by Lloyd B. Minor, MD, Dean of the Stanford School of Medicine, who delivered a thought-provoking presentation titled “AI, Technology, and the Future of Life Sciences.” Dr. Eila Skinner followed with an inspiring overview of Stanford Urology’s transformative journey and achievements.

The meeting featured an extraordinary lineup of guest speakers:

Carolyn R. Bertozzi, PhD: Nobel Laureate and the Baker Family Director of Sarafan ChEM-H.
Michael McFaul, PhD: Director at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia.
Paul G. Yock, MD: Founding co-chair of Stanford’s Department of Bioengineering and pioneer in medical devices.
David M. Kennedy, PhD: Historian and founding director of Stanford’s Bill Lane Center for the American West.
Tara VanDerveer, MA: Retired Stanford basketball coach and the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history.

Left to right: Kathleen Kobashi, MD (Chair, Houston Methodist Urology), Eila Skinner, MD (Chair, Stanford Urology), Cheryl T Lee, MD (Chair, Ohio State Urology).

The Friday evening program featured a wine-tasting session and farm-to-table dinner at O’Donohue Farm, followed by a “Wines of Silicon Valley” presentation by Melissa Smith from Enotrias Elite Sommelier Services.

Exemplifying Stanford Urology’s role as a leader in collaborative and forward-thinking research, several faculty members delivered presentations on a diverse array topics:

Jim Brooks, MD: “New Tools Provide Insights into BPH”
Kris Prado, MD: “Bladder Cancerization is Linked to Epithelial Basalization and is Reversed by EGF Inhibition”
Ekene Enemchukwu, MD, MPH: “Advancing Women’s Health: Addressing Gaps in Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause”
Katie Kan, MD: “The Evidence for School-based Interventions to Improve Bladder Health”
Guolan Lu, PhD: “Where Do Therapeutic Antibodies Go? - A First-in-Human Journey”
Jay Shah, MD: “Put Me In, Coach: Going Beyond Teaching and Mentoring to Maximize Surgeon Success”
Michael Eisenberg, MD: “The Sixth Vital Sign: What Our Sperm Are Trying to Tell Us”
Simon Conti, MD, M.Ed., & Tony Chen, MD: “Stanford Urology Resident Diversity: Recruiting and Maintaining a Diverse Resident Cohort”
Geoffrey Sonn, MD: “Improving Prostate Cancer Detection on MRI and Ultrasound Using Deep Learning”
John Leppert, MD: “Geographic Variation in Urinary Stone Disease: The ‘Stone Belt’ 30 Years Later”
Joseph Liao, MD: “Augmented Cystoscopy and TURBT for Bladder Cancer Detection”
Philip Beachy, PhD: “Cellular and Molecular Basis of Bladder Cancer Initiation and Progression”

Looking ahead, the 2025 CSGUS Annual Meeting will be hosted by Dr. Leonard Gomella at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA, from October 23–25, 2025.