American Urological Association honors VUMC’s Chang
Sam Chang, M.D.
Chang was named to receive the Gold Cytoscope Award, presented yearly to a urologist who has made outstanding contributions to the field within the first 13 years following his residency training.
Joseph Smith Jr., M.D., chair of the Department of Urologic Surgery, said Chang was an outstanding performer throughout his urologic surgery residency training at Vanderbilt and fellowship training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and has continued on that same trajectory throughout his career.
“In a short time, Sam Chang has become a leader in urologic oncology. This is a highly prestigious award and a great personal credit to Sam and recognition of what he has accomplished.
“His work is one of the reasons the Department of Urologic Surgery is recognized as the premier center in the country for clinical, research and education in treatment of urologic cancers,” Smith said.
Since completing his training in 2000, Chang has pursued research in targeted antibody diagnostic and therapeutic applications, clinical improvement initiatives and patient care pathways.
He has authored more than 200 publications in the field of urologic surgical oncology, including patented research that verified antigenic expression in vascular systems that grow to feed multiple tumors.
Chang has led efforts to integrate evidence-based medicine into clinical pathways and has worked to enhance guidelines and improve staging techniques. His ideas have been incorporated into national practice guidelines for the AUA, the American Joint Committee on Cancer and the AUA Core Curriculum.