Celebrating USANZ Members
What's a Urologist: A Groundbreaking AI Short Film
USANZ Member Dr Samantha Pillay OAM has been working on an exciting endeavour, using artificial intelligence to produce a short film about urology.
Impressively, this film was selected as a finalist at the inaugral OMNI AI Film Festival which took place on Tuesday 29 April.
The film, titled 'What's a Urologist', employs AI tools to shed light on the work of urological surgeons. Covering many conditions treated by urologists, this 90-second film is a good promotion of the specialty especially for new audiences. Watch the film online.
The crossover between the arts, urology and AI is fascinating and we were delighted to hear about Samantha's involvement. Congratulations on being selected as a finalist!
USANZ at AUA 2025
The American Urological Association (AUA) held its annual conference from 26-29 April 2025.
As always, there were several USANZ Members in attendance at AUA 2025 and this week were are celebrating their contributions and achievements. Congratulations to all of the presenters!
BAUS, BJUI & USANZ Joint Session at AUA
The joint session between the British Association of Urology (BAUS), BJU International (BJUI) and USANZ was held on Sunday 27 April at AUA 2025. With speakers from the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand, the session explored the current and future impact of artificial intelligence in urology.
USANZ President Prof Damien Bolton, together with Prof Ian Pearce, chaired the first session. Along with a presenter from America, there were two USANZ Members featured in this session discussing using AI to help the delivery of Urology services. Prof Nathan Lawrentshuk spoke about this in regard to the clinic perpsective, and Dr Sumeet Reddy, the BJUI Sponsored USANZ speaker, spoke on video analysis and outcomes.
The second session was chaired by Prof Helen O'Connell AO and Prof Freddie Hamdy, and featured speakers from the UK and USA.
USANZ Award Recipients
Prof Helen O'Connell AO, USANZ Past President, received the Secretary Commendation for Global Leadership at AUA 2025. This is a prestigious commendation by the AUA Secretary, in recognition of an individual's significant contribution to the cause of urology through international relations and collaboration with the AUA.
The citation from AUA Secretary, David Pearson, recognised Helen's "outstanding efforts and unique ability to serve as a liaison in building bridges across borders for collaboration with urologic education." He noted Helen's work in this area "has not only opened avenues for communication, but has also fostered educational exchange for young urologists across the globe leaving an indelible mark on the future of our specialty."
We're delighted to see Helen's efforts recognised by the AUA and we congratulate her on this achievement.
After presenting his ADAM study on an agent for a reversible vasectomy at AUA 2025, Prof Nathan Lawrentschuk received the best presentation award at the AUA innovation session for new developments. The Urology Times posted an article on 26 April about the research which is available to read online. Nathan had presented his preliminary research on this topic at the USANZ 2024 ASM in Adelaide, for which he received the AstraZeneca Platinum Trophy.
Boston Scientific Travelling Fellowship
As recipient of the Boston Scientific Travelling Fellowship for 2025, Dr Marnique Basto was supported to attend AUA 2025. Marnique was awarded this fellowship following a call for expressions of interest in 2024, as previously announced in UroNews. We will provide a detailed report in an upcoming edition of UroNews, following Marnique's return.
Congratulations again on receiving this fellowship, Marnique - we look forward to hearing about your travels!
Innovation Nexus Showcase
AUA25 included an Innovation Nexus Showcase on Friday 25 April. This was an opportunity for new technology companies to pitch at investors, urologists and medical companies.
One of the companies selected to feature in the Showcase was ProFocal, an Australian-based technology led by USANZ Member Dr Celi Varol. This is a novel laser therapy system looks set to provide an alternative treatment of prostate cancer that may improve patient outcomes.
Congraulations to Celi and the ProFocal team for being recognised on the global stage.
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