Ganesh S. Palapattu, M.D., named chair of Urology; Lisa A. Prosser, Ph.D., new assistant dean for research faculty
Palapattu is the George F. and Sandy G. Valassis Professor of Urology and chief of the Division of Urologic Oncology; Prosser is a professor of pediatrics in the Medical School and directs the Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center
On Feb. 21, the Board of Regents approved the appointment of Ganesh S. Palapattu, M.D., as chair of the Department of Urology. He had been serving as acting chair since Feb. 1.
Palapattu (top) is the George F. and Sandy G. Valassis Professor of Urology in the Medical School and chief of the Division of Urologic Oncology. He also is co-director of the Genitourinary Oncology Program in the Rogel Cancer Center and director of the Urology Care Foundation Physician Scientist Training Program at the U-M.
After earning a Bachelor of Arts in humanities/South Asian studies at the University of Texas at Austin, he earned his medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine. He then completed an internship in surgery and residency in urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and postdoctoral fellowship in urologic oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Palapattu joined the U-M faculty in 2012 as an associate professor of urology and earned promotion to professor in 2016. Prior to coming to the University of Michigan, he was an associate professor of clinical urology at the Methodist Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College in Houston, Texas. He also is an adjunct professor of urology at the Medical University of Vienna in Austria and has held faculty appointments at Johns Hopkins and the University of Rochester. He currently serves as a member of the Prostate Cancer Scientific Program Committee for the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Rapid Response Committee of the Society of Urologic Oncology, and the Research Grants and Investigator Support Committee of the American Urological Association.
His clinical interests include the evaluation and management of patients with prostate, kidney and testis cancer. His research seeks to shed new light on the molecular underpinnings of prostate cancer progression with a particular interest in using next generation sequencing to characterize tumor heterogeneity and utilizing metabolomic platforms to study the biologic basis of prostate cancer health disparity. He is co-principal investigator (PI) of the University of Michigan Prostate SPORE, PI of a National Cancer Institute (NCI) T32 training grant in urologic oncology and PI of an NCI RO1 in prostate cancer metabolism. He has mentored more than 40 students, residents, fellows and faculty, and published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers.
In other Medical School leadership news, the Executive Committee approved the appointment of Lisa A. Prosser, Ph.D., M.S., as assistant dean for research faculty, effective Feb. 1.
In her new role, she provides leadership over research faculty appointments and promotions. This includes conducting third-year reviews and exit interviews for research faculty, faculty career development counseling, and assisting department chairs and administrators with difficult faculty issues, recruitment strategies, discipline and dismissal strategies, faculty track selection and disability complaints.
Prosser (bottom) is a professor of pediatrics in the Medical School and health management and policy in the School of Public Health. She also directs the Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center. She served as director of faculty development in the Office of Faculty Affairs in the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases from 2013-15.
She earned her doctorate in health policy from Harvard University, and Master of Science degrees in technology and policy, and management, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She joined the U-M faculty in 2008 as a research associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases. She earned promotion to associate professor in 2010, and professor in 2016.
Prosser’s research program uses methods of decision science and economic evaluation to measure the value of childhood health interventions. Her current areas of interest include the evaluation of health and economic outcomes for vaccination and newborn screening programs through simulation modeling and preference assessment.
Her recent honors include the John Eisenberg Award for Practical Application of Medical Decision Making Research from the Society for Medical Decision Making, and Impact Accelerator Award from the U-M’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.