Mark Litwin Initiates New Emory Urology Visiting Professorship
June 2016
On May 25-26, the eminent Mark S. Litwin, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, inaugurated Emory Urology's newly declared annual visiting professorship.
Dr. Litwin published the first well-validated instrument to assess disease-targeted, health-related quality of life in men treated for prostate cancer, and has been an international leader in this area. Entitled the UCLA Prostate Cancer Index, the tool was first published in theJournal of the American Medical Associationin 1995, is now in use in over 200 studies throughout North America, and has been translated into Spanish, Dutch, and Japanese for cross-cultural use.
On the evening of his arrival, Dr. Litwin spent an enjoyable evening with Emory Urology's 2015 chief residents dining at the Floataway Café, where one of the topics of conversation was his 1981-1985 medical school experience at Emory.
At Emory Urology Grand Rounds the next morning, Dr. Litwin presented "Caring for the Uninsured with Prostate Cancer in California," describing the history, mission, and achievements thus far of IMPACT (Improving Access, Counseling, and Treatment for Californians with Prostate Cancer), the state-wide program he founded that provides free, high-quality prostate cancer treatment to low-income, uninsured men in California. IMPACT has been awarded more than $85 million in state funding to provide prostate cancer treatment services to eligible men since its inception in 2001, and is affiliated with more than 700 medical providers located throughout the state.
Following Grand Rounds, Dr. Litwin met with Emory Urology faculty as well as Walter Curran, MD, Executive Director of the Winship Cancer Institute, and David Stephens, MD, Vice President for Research in the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center.
"We look forward to continuing this distinguished beginning with future fellowships," says Christopher Filson, MD, Assistant Professor of Urology and one of the professorship's planners.
