Andrology, General and Community Urology

Research on men’s health issues in the Department of Urology spans numerous disorders and touches on examining and improving many widely used procedures.

Prostate Cancer Detection

The Division of Andrology, General and Community Urology has also been involved in the early detection of prostate cancer through the use of urinary biomarkers. This work, supported by the National Cancer Institute and its Early Detection Research Network, seeks to develop clinical practices and symptom indexes that aid in the early detection of prostate and various other cancers.

Dow Health Services Research 

Dr. John Wei, of the Andrology, General and Community Urology team, and various other U-M Department of Urology faculty were founding members of the Dow Division of Health Services Research. This Division is one of the country's preeminent research institutions with respect to clinical and policy-oriented research in the field of urology. The Division is also an integral part of the University’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI), and as such, it is poised to tackle the spectrum of challenges facing patients with urological diseases in the 21st Century.

Reproductive Health Policy

Dr. Dupree is an expert in the advanced treatment of male infertility. His research program focuses on reproductive health policy with a special emphasis on access to infertility care, including insurance coverage for infertility.  His long-term research goal is to help people build their families and improve the health of men and women with infertility.  Dr. Dupree is the Principal Investigator (PI) for an R01 grant funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01-HD103603-01A1). His team is studying the impact of insurance coverage for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) on the health outcomes of women and infants, on health care costs, and on IVF use among less affluent and younger women. He also led a study, published in JAMA, about the impact of the University of Michigan’s decision to start covering infertility for its 35,000+ employees.  His research has been used by employers in their deliberations about expanding insurance coverage for infertility, and he has been interviewed by groups such as the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) about his research on insurance coverage for fertility care.

Telehealth

Dr. Ellimoottil is a national leader in the field of telehealth. Since 2018, Dr. Ellimoottil has served as the director of the Telehealth Research Incubator lab (https://ihpi.umich.edu/tri).  His research lab focuses on population-level impact of telehealth on healthcare costs, quality, and access. His long-term research goal is to inform policymaking to ensure that telehealth improves the lives of patients and achieves the goals of the healthcare system. His research niche is unique and timely as telehealth use has grown in popularity. In 2020, he was awarded a competitive K08 Career Development Award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to study video visit adoption among surgeons. In 2021, he was awarded an independent research grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund to evaluate the population-level impact of telehealth in the state of Michigan and an R01 grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to study the impact of telehealth on access, quality and costs for Medicare beneficiaries.

He has presented his work for diverse audiences at national/regional conferences (AUA, Academy Health, American Telemedicine Association), Urology Grand Rounds (University of California Los Angeles, University of California Irvine, New York University, Medical University of South Carolina, University of Southern California, University of North Carolina), governmental meetings (Department of Health and Human Services, Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee, Michigan Legislative Forum), research organizations (Mathematica, Arbor Research Collaborative), and community organizations (Birmingham Senior Men’s Club). He or his research has been quoted in the lay press, such as the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Urology Times and AUA News. He has been invited to be the guest speaker on national podcasts, including Freakonomics (The Doctor Will Zoom You Now, June 24, 2020) and Tradeoffs (A Telehealth Checkup, October 22, 2020).