Innovative Approaches to Urinary Dysfunction Guide Center’s Research

Worldwide BPH or benign prostatic hyperplasia is on the rise. It has been proposed that global mortality due to BPH (e.g. acute urinary retention) is higher than mortality due to prostate cancer. Thus, understanding how normal urination, “to pee”, and obstructive urination, “not to pee”, occurs is integral to wholesome living and a good health span.

Dr. William A. Ricke, Director, UW O’Brien Center; Director of Research; The UWMF Professor of Urologic Research; Professor, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Urology

The UW-Madison George M. O’Brien Center for Benign Urology Research, directed by Dr. William A. Ricke, PhD, Professor, Department of Urology, UW School of Medicine and Public Health, is one of three funded O’Brien Centers nationwide dedicated to improving urologic health in aging men. George M. O’Brien Centers are National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney (NIDDK) flagship research centers funded via the rather rare and prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) U54 mechanism. The UW-Madison O’Brien Center, established in 2014, is a multi-site research cooperative between the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Massachusetts-Boston, University of Texas-Southwestern, and NIDDK with an overall research objective of identifying cellular and molecular mediators in the development of lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) and prostate-related lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).

UROLOGIC HEALTH

Despite advances in the clinical management of many genitourinary conditions, millions of Americans remain afflicted with benign conditions of the bladder and urogenital system. LUTS affects more than 60 percent of older men in the United States and greatly impacts quality of life. Urinary dysfunction affects nearly all people of advancing age and existing therapies are incompletely effective. Conditions associated with LUTS such as urinary incontinence and bladder outlet obstruction (BOO), urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome, urolithiasis, and erectile dysfunction, cost more than $11.5 billion per year to treat.

A NEW APPROACH

The UW O’Brien Center’s research in prostate-related urinary dysfunction is focused on a new mechanism – fibrosis. Prostatic fibrosis is a condition that increases prostatic stiffening and impairs urination, ultimately leading to LUTS. Center scientists are also studying associations between LUTS and BPH, a noncancerous disease that can lead to prostate enlargement and often causes BOO. Currently, there are no therapies that target prostatic fibrosis pathways in men exhibiting LUTS.

CENTER GOALS

In addition to advancing the scientific understanding and medical management of prostatic fibrosis, the center aims to:

  • elucidate molecular, cellular, and physiological mechanisms that cause urinary dysfunction in men
  • build consensus around research approaches to model urinary dysfunction in rodents
  • provide opportunities for established investigators to transition into the field of benign urology
  • secure the future of urologic research by promoting development of the next generation of urologic researchers
  • disseminate urologic research knowledge through seminars, social media, websites, workshops, scientific meetings, and symposia.

LEADERSHIP

Center leadership includes Dr. William A. Ricke (above), UW O’Brien Center Director, Professor, Department of Urology, UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and Dr. Chad M. Vezina, UW O’Brien Center Associate Director, Professor of Comparative Biosciences, UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.

Other researchers involved in the center include UW-Madison’s Dr. Paul C. Marker, Professor and Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Dr. Dale E. Bjorling, Professor of Surgical Sciences and Director of the K12 Urologic Research Career Development Program, School of Veterinary Medicine, and Dr. Diego Hernando, Assistant Professor, Departments of Radiology and Medical Physics, School of Medicine and Public Health.

Dr. Chad M. Vezina, Associate Director, O’Brien Center
Dr. Paul C. Marker
Dr. Dale E. Bjorling
Dr. Diego Hernando

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additionally, Dr. Douglas W. Strand, Associate Professor, Department of Urology, at UT-Southwestern Medical Center and Dr. Jill A. Macoska, Alton J. Brann Endowed Distinguished Professor in Science and Mathematics and Cancer Biology, College of Science and Mathematics, at the University of Massachusetts Boston, both co-lead projects within the center.

Dr. Douglas W. Strand
Dr. Jill A. Macoska

 

 

 

 

 

 

A SUCCESSFUL AND VALUABLE RESOURCE

The George M. O’Brien Center at UW-Madison is leading the way for BPH/LUTS research in the US and worldwide, publicly disseminating information relating to these diseases and serving as a valuable resource center. Since the center’s inception in 2014, center members have published over 130 scientific works and have been honored with over 120 awards. With nearly 200 accepted abstracts and well over 200 scientific presentations, center members have established a strong leadership role in the field of outreach. Additionally, center principal investigators have held 94 positions of leadership within scientific workshops, national conferences, committees, and boards, and as grant review panelists. The center has been awarded over 90 grants and has funded 7 Opportunity Pool Projects, demonstrating its commitment to advancing the research of other scientists in the benign urology community.

 

O’Brien Center impact since 2014

 

Unique to the UW O’Brien Center, is a NIH-funded biomedical core, that designs, validates, and disseminates protocols for rodent urinary functional testing and provides urinary function testing services using state-of-the-art equipment. The UW O’Brien Center also boasts the world’s largest human prostate tissue biorepository of RNA-Sequencing data for over 140,000 cells! Additional resources include publicly available software programs for quantifying collagen and voiding function, urine-omics methods, bladder outlet obstruction models, and prostate inflammation models.

In addition to these resources, the UW O’Brien Center has a robust seminar series featuring monthly seminars, extramural speakers, and intramural speakers. In addition, the center hosts an annual symposium that attracts nearly 100 attendees representing numerous institutions per year. The symposia and seminars been an invaluable venue for disseminating data and showcasing trainees.

NEXT GENERATION

The UW O’Brien Center is the premiere site for training the next generation of researcher and physician researcher, providing meaningful education, support, and mentoring. Nearly 200 students, high school through post-doctoral, have been trained by UW O’Brien Center principal investigators and many of these students have gone on to excel within the fields of scientific research and medicine. The Center hosts the Summer Program in Undergraduate Urology Research (SPUUR), which is an immersive summer undergraduate research internship. Over 34 students have participated, 60% of whom have authored publications and over 90% of whom have continued to advanced training in research and/or medicine.  Center leadership has served on over 100 mentoring committees since 2014.

LOOKING FORWARD

The center is cultivating new research tools and ideas by expanding the collaborative network within and outside of the traditional urologic research field and enhancing knowledge of mechanisms associated with normal development, function, and disease pathology related to the urinary tract, kidney, and prostate. Ultimately, this will translate to the clinical setting, reducing the burden of benign urologic illness by developing and testing therapies that will more effectively treat, manage, and prevent these diseases.

For more information about the UW-Madison George M. O’Brien Center for Benign Urology Research and its current projects visit https://obrien.urology.wisc.edu

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