BALTIMORE, Dec. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Urological Association (AUA) announced today Kathleen C. Kobashi, MD, MBA, FACS, as the incoming editor of Urology Practice®, an official journal of the AUA. Dr. Kobashi is currently an associate editor of Urology Practice, a role which she will continue until she begins her three-year term as editor on January 1, 2026.

As Urology Practice editor, Dr. Kobashi is responsible for making recommendations to improve the dissemination of this growing journal focused on clinical trends, challenges, and practice applications in four areas – business, health policy, the specialty and patient care. The overarching objective of this position is to maintain the highly regarded editorial integrity of the journal while implementing publishing innovations that grow Urology Practice, its Impact Factor and its readership.

"We are honored to appoint Dr. Kobashi as editor of Urology Practice,” said AUA President Stephen Y. Nakada, MD. "She is a terrific person for this role due to her depth of experience working with Urology Practice as associate editor and serving as editor of other journals. Dr. Kobashi will be a tremendous resource in leading the next chapter of Urology Practice."

Dr. Kobashi has been an active AUA member since 1992. In addition to her current role as associate editor of Urology Practice, she has been president of the AUA Western Section, a mentor for the Leadership Program, course director at multiple annual meetings as well as chair and working member of multiple committees.

“The role of an editor is not only about steadfast stewardship of the journal but to inspire all of us to think out of the box, innovate, and share ideas,” said Dr. Kobashi. “We will continue to grow Urology Practice in its unique role of providing urologists with robust, data-driven, and thoroughly peer-vetted material for all urologists to utilize to optimize their daily practices.”

A valuable asset to the urologic community, Dr. Kobashi is the chair of the Department of Urology at Houston Methodist Hospital. She is also a professor of Clinical Urology and clinician at the Houston Methodist Academic Institute, an adjunct assistant professor at Texas A&M University School of Medicine and a professor of Clinical Urology at Weil Cornell Medicine. Prior roles include founder and co-director of the Continence Center in Seattle, WA, and then director when it became the Pelvic Floor Center in 2008. Dr. Kobashi is also significantly invested in urology research. Her research interests are pelvic reconstructive surgery, complications related to mesh used in pelvic reconstruction and patient-reported outcomes following interventions for pelvic floor disorders.  She is also integrally involved in practice guidelines in the field of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery (URPS).

Dr. Kobashi has been a reviewer for nine publications, an editor for eight and is currently on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Urology and the Societe’ Internationale d’Urologie Journal. She has also published 112 peer-reviewed manuscripts, edited two books and authored 30 book chapters. 

About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 25,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy.

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• Kathleen C. Kobashi, MD, MBA, FACS

Corey Del Bianco
American Urological Association
443-689-4033
cdelbianco@auanet.org