Kirby I. Bland, MD, Fay Fletcher Kerner Professor and chair of the Department of Surgery, announces the appointment of Christopher L. Amling, MD, former chair of the Department of Urology at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, California, as professor and director of the Department of Surgery's Division of Urology, effective October 1. Former Division Director Anton J. Bueschen, MD, who has served as director since 1973 (except for a 4 -year hiatus between 1995 and 1999) will remain a division faculty member; he also stepped down as University of Alabama Health Services Foundation president on October 1, when Raymond L. Watts, MD, became president.

Dr. Bland notes, "Dr. Amling is an extraordinary individual to succeed Dr. Bueschen as division director. He brings a diverse breadth of research focus in benign and malignant diseases and will enlarge the division's excellent clinical and education missions."

Expanding Research, Clinical Volume

Dr. Amling's primary goal is strengthening the division's academic reputation by broadening the scope of clinical and basic research. He plans to establish a basic science research laboratory for the division, focusing on urologic oncology. "We have the ability to become one of the premier urology programs in the country," he says. "That potential for growth, as well as the impressive basic science research under way at UAB's Comprehensive Cancer Center, were instrumental in my decision to join UAB. The Birmingham area also has an excellent patient population for study of prostate cancer — one of my main areas of research interest."

During his time at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, Dr. Amling and colleagues established two large national prostate cancer outcomes databases: The Center for Prostate Disease Research (CPDR), a Department of Defense-funded database of more than 20,000 men, and the Shared Equal Access Research Cancer Hospital (SEARCH) database of 2,000 men that incorporates data from five Veteran's Affairs hospitals. "The databases are useful tools for investigating questions in prostate cancer," he says. "For example, we looked at racial variability and found African Americans have worse prostate cancer outcomes than whites. We also found a strong correlation between obesity and more aggressive prostate cancer. Obesity may be a significant cause of poorer outcomes among African American men, who often have higher body mass indexes than white men." Dr. Amling and colleagues published their findings on the link between obesity and prostate cancer in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (2004;22:439-445).

Dr. Amling also anticipates increasing the division's clinical volume, particularly through the growing robotic prostatectomy program, which uses the da Vinci® surgical system to perform minimally invasive radical prostatectomies. "Robotically assisted radical prostatectomy offers patients the benefits of the laparoscopic technique — a less invasive procedure with a shorter recovery — without the long operating time and difficult learning curve for standard laparoscopic prostatectomy," he says. "Offering patients the most advanced options in prostate cancer treatment will help expand our program, as will greater participation in clinical trials."

A former captain in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps, Dr. Amling joins UAB after completing 20 years of military service. In 1981, he won a full scholarship from the Navy Health Professions Scholarship Program to attend Oregon Health Sciences University, where he earned his MD degree, graduating cum laude. After a surgical internship, he completed the Naval Flight Surgery Training Program at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute in Pensacola, Florida, and served for 2 years as a naval flight surgeon. Following residencies in Duke University Medical Center's Department of Surgery and Division of Urology, Dr. Amling completed fellowship training in urologic oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He joined the Naval Medical Center's Department of Urology in 1997 and was appointed chair in 2004.

Dr. Amling is a diplomate of the American Board of Urology and recipient of numerous awards and honors. Military decorations include two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, one for service as a urologic oncologist and the second for clinical research activity. He was also awarded a Meritorious Service Medal for his work as residency program director and chair of the Department of Urology at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Urologic Association and the American Urologic Association Research Council. The author of more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, Dr. Amling serves as a manuscript reviewer for the Journal of Urology, Urology, Cancer, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases.

His primary clinical interests are treatment of urologic malignancies, particularly prostate cancer, but also kidney, bladder, and testicular cancer, correlations between obesity and aggressive prostate cancer, and racial variations in prostate cancer risk.

For academic or administrative questions, call or e-mail Dr. Amling at 934-1461 or camling@surg.uab.edu. He is currently accepting patients at The Kirklin Clinic®; call 975-0088 for appointments.