Our Doctors
Kevin M. Slawin, M.D.
Director, Vanguard Urologic Institute and the Texas Prostate Center
Adjunct Professor, Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences,
University of Texas Health Science Center - Houston
Clinical Professor of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine
Director of Urology, Memorial Hermann - Texas Medical Center
Kevin M. Slawin, M.D., recently left the position he held since 1994 as Professor, Scott Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine and Director of The Baylor Prostate Center.
He earned his medical degree at Columbia University before training in general and reconstructive surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York. He returned to Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center to complete his urological training under Carl Olsson, M.D., and subsequently was awarded a two-year AFUD fellowship with Peter Scardino, M.D., then chairman of the Scott Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine, to study the development and treatment of prostate cancer.
Dr. Slawin specializes in urologic oncology, diseases of the prostate, and reconstructive surgery. He has been a leader in the field of robotic surgery since its inception and is a founding editor of the Journal of Robotic Surgery.
His research interests include molecular origins of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and ways of treating it with medical and minimally invasive therapy. He is a co-discoverer of the novel molecular PSA forms, BPSA and -2proPSA, which hold promise for improving diagnosis and management of prostatic disease. He has published extensively on other novel markers for the diagnosis, staging, and management of prostate and bladder cancer.
Recently, Dr. Slawin has been actively engaged in research and development of a cancer vaccine to treat patients with prostate cancer. Clinical trials are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2008 and are sponsored by Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (www.bellicum.com) through the University of Texas Center for Clinical and Translational Science and the Memorial Hermann Center for Clinical Innovation and Research, which are associated with the Vanguard Urologic Institute.
Dr. Slawin has led the way in developing state-of-the-art treatment for prostate cancer, including cryotherapy and robotic prostatectomy, and improved surgical techniques that include the use of nerve grafts for preserving erectile function in men undergoing a retropubic prostatectomy and robotic laparoscopic radical prostatectomy using the da Vinci system. He recently received the F. Brantley Scott, M.D., Jr. Award for Innovation and Creativity in Urology.
Author of numerous papers on the subject of prostate cancer and BPH, Dr. Slawin is a section editor of Urology, a member of the Editorial Board of Reviews in Urology, a member of the Board of Consultants for the Journal of Urology, a consulting editor for the journal, Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases, and serves as reviewer and consultant for several other scientific journals.
For more information about Dr. Slawin and his clinical and research program visit www.DrSlawin.com or www.prostatecenter.com.
back to topTung Shu, M.D.
Director of Endourology and Minimally Invasive Surgery
Dr. Shu is board certified by the American Board of Urology and is double-fellowship-trained in Urologic Oncology and Minimally Invasive Surgery in Urology-Laparoscopy-Endourology.
Specializing in urologic oncologic diseases of the prostate, kidney, adrenal glands, bladder, penis, and testes, Dr. Shu is one of few urologic surgeons worldwide with expertise using minimally invasive approaches to treat those diseases. He has extensive experience in minimally invasive approaches using laparoscopy, endoscopy, and the da Vinci surgical robot.
In addition to his primary focus on urologic oncologic diseases, Dr. Shu has a long-standing interest in laparoscopic approaches to treat other benign urologic conditions, such as ureteropelvic junction obstruction. Further, with his background in endourology, he provides comprehensive medical and surgical management of renal calculi.
Dr. Shu’s research interests include the application of tissue engineering in urology, development of surgical teaching models for complex laparoscopic-percutaneous-endoscopic surgery, and molecular approaches to the treatment of renal cell carcinoma and prostate cancer.
Rodney A. Appell, MD, FACS
Director of the Texas Continence Center
Clinical Professor of Urology and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine
Before joining Vanguard Urologic Institute, Rodney A. Appell, MD, FACS served since 2002 as Professor of Urology and Gynecology and Chief, Division of Voiding Dysfunction and Female Urology, at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
Dr. Appell received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and completed a surgical residency at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC, and a urology residency at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT.
He serves on the Board of Directors and Nominating Committee of the National Association for Continence and on the Guidelines Committee and the Special Women’s Issues in Urology Committee of the American Urological Association. He is also on the editorial boards of many publications, including the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, International Urogynecology Journal, Journal of Urology, International Journal of the Proctological and Perineal Diseases, Neurourology and Urodynamics, and Urology.
Dr. Appell has received numerous grants to investigate urinary incontinence and has authored or coauthored more than 150 journal articles, 16 books, and 40 book chapters. Over the past 25 years, he has frequently been invited as visiting professor or speaker at many national and international society meetings, symposia, and conferences.
He received the Video Urology Times Award for outstanding videotape segment in 1990, and he has consistently been included in the publication The Best Doctors in America.
Dr. Appell’s research interests have primarily been related to injectable agents for stress urinary incontinence and pharmacological agents for the overactive bladder. He has been involved in urodynamics since 1975, and in February 2008, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society for Urodynamics and Female Urology and was named Continence Care Champion by the National Association for Continence.
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