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YUO History

The formation of the YUO sprung from three young urologic oncologists in the midst of one of the SUO Winter Meetings. Back in 2003, Drs. Doug Scherr, Jeff Holzbeierlein, and Dan Lin were milling around the Natcher Center at the NCI (the former home of the SUO Winter Meetings) during one of the breaks in the conference. Feeling there was a slight disconnect between the established SUO membership and the newly emerging urologic oncologists, they conceived the concept of a sub-group of young urologists. The idea was first floated to Dr. Joseph Smith, SUO President at the time, who gave his endorsement and brought the proposal to NCI Urology director, Dr. Marston Linehan. As Dr. Lin recalled, “the idea then spread like wildfire” and there was a request that the proposed structure be presented to the SUO Executive Board at the AUA Annual Meeting that spring. The Executive Board gave its approval, and the formation of the YUO was official.

The first YUO board was initiated at the 2004 Winter Meeting and consisted of the following rising leaders in urologic oncology:

  • Jeff Holzbeierlein, President
  • Sam Chang
  • Peter Clark
  • John Davis
  • Dan Lin
  • Jodie Maranchie
  • Doug Scherr

The bylaws were developed and modeled after the SUO bylaws but with a specific focus on early career urologists and trainees. The first meeting of the YOU took place on the Saturday afternoon at the tail end of the 2004 Winter Meeting. Dr. Lin was the program chair and Dr. Peter Scardino was the keynote speaker. Over the next several years, the YUO continued to evolve, and an ad hoc spot was reserved on the SUO Executive Board for a representative from the YUO.

By 2006, the YUO program at the Winter Meeting had become an extremely well attended pre-meeting event taking place on the night before the start of the conference. The program was expanded to include prominent invited speakers and featured abstracts from YUO presenters. The YUO also began reviewing poster presentations at theWinter Meeting and highlighting meritorious ones with the best poster award. By 2011, the YUO program was increasingly incorporated into the main SUO conference program with multiple YUO speakers presenting each year. As a result, the overall agenda of the SUO has continued to focus even greater attention of the central issues surrounding urology trainees and early career investigators. The YUO continues to highlight these key issues as it seeks to facilitate the continued engagement and success of young urologists at a critical time in their career development.