David Penson, M.D., MPH, Paul V. Hamilton, M.D., and Virginia E. Howd Professor of Urologic Oncology and chair of the Department of Urologic Surgery, has been selected to chair the American Urological Association (AUA) Science & Quality Council, according to an announcement from the AUA Board of Directors.

Melissa Kaufman, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Urologic Surgery, received the 2017 Zimskind Award at the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine, and Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU) Winter Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Faced with the negative quality-of-life effects from surgery and radiation treatments for prostate cancer, low risk patients may instead want to consider active surveillance with their physician, according to a study released Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is one of four centers receiving a $15 million, four-year research award from the American Heart Association (AHA) to provide cutting-edge research on obesity as part of its sixth Strategically Focused Research Network (SFRN).

Social risk factors including income, education and ethnic background influence health outcomes and should be taken into account in Medicare payment models, according to a New England Journal of Medicine “Perspective” titled “Social Risk Factors and Equity in Medicare Payment.”

The researchers examine whether the financial struggles of some major insurers under the Affordable Care Act reflect a policy failure or a mismatch of these firms’ capabilities and strategies to a newly created market.