What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?
In training, I realized that much of urology focuses on cancer treatment, and while life-saving, these treatments can be destructive to patients' quality of life. Sexual medicine is the opposite. As a field, it does not focus on life-saving pathology; however, the quality-of-life improvements are often more meaningful to patients.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?
As an early graduate student, I was interested in nitric oxide and endothelial biology, especially as it related to cardiovascular disease development. In my grad physiology class, we observed measurements of the rat cavernous nerve-stimulated erectile response in Chris Wingard’s lab. I found this fascinating and dove into the ED literature, where I was highly inspired by Graham Jackson’s papers clinically linking ED to cardiovascular disease. Chris allowed and encouraged me to do an ED side project in his lab. About halfway through this project, I was hooked. I’m truly grateful to Chris for his mentoring and support that kickstarted my sexual medicine career.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?
When I was thinking about specialties as a third-year medical student, I remember someone saying “you never meet an unhappy urologist.” This really stuck with me when I was making the decision of what field to choose. At that time, I realized how many physicians seemed unhappy even as an attending and I realized that happiness is itself a great goal. Luckily, when I rotated on Urology, I really liked it. Later, I realized that the sex med people were even the happiest urologists.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

I was drawn to the field early in residency, and after attending a program put on by one of the device companies during my first year of urology residency, I was hooked. I've never gotten bored with it and have never even come close to feeling burnout.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

My training is in reconstructive urology, and I practice in a cancer center environment, where a large part of my work is taking care of patients after cancer treatment, trauma, or prior surgery. In that setting, sexual dysfunction comes up all the time, and it has a real impact on quality of life. You see pretty quickly that there’s a real need for people who are willing to focus on this.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?
I enjoyed the mixture of medical issues and surgical reconstruction. Some of the surgeries that we do are unique and challenging.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

I was inspired initially to pursue sexual medicine through work with an early mentor, Dr. Michael Chancellor. During residency, my lab project involved exploring the role of the nerve growth factor gene therapy in post-prostatectomy erectile dysfunction. Serendipitously, I was introduced to Dr. John Mulhall, who was performing similar work in his lab and starting a new fellowship.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

What drew me to sexual medicine is the privilege of helping people reclaim a part of their lives that is deeply tied to identity, connection, and overall well-being. As a urologist, I’m honored to support patients in optimizing their function across every stage of life — whether they’re navigating illness‑ or injury-related changes, recovering after cancer treatment, or simply facing the natural shifts that come with aging.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

In 1989, I was reading the New England Journal of Medicine and came across a review article published by Irwin Goldstein, Inigo Saenz de Tejada, and Bob Krane on impotence. I was fascinated by the physiology that was described by the authors. Before doing a day of urology, I negotiated with my chair of surgery to spend two months with Irwin doing research, and my passion for the field was ignited and sealed before I ever returned to my residency program.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?
As an undergrad student, I joined Dr. Michael Adams lab for my honors research project. I thought I would have a hypertension project and I ended up working on hypertension related erectile dysfunction. I carried this work through to my PhD studies and attended SMSNA meetings annually. I became hooked on sexual medicine and have continued this research in my lab.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

My path to sexual medicine emerged from my work as a psychosocial oncology researcher. For many years, I focused on understanding how people living with cancer navigate the interpersonal and emotional challenges of the illness. Across studies and clinical encounters, couples consistently described sexual health as one of the most pervasive and persistent unmet needs in cancer care.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

My mentor Dr. Ricardo Munarriz, who is a superb surgeon and excellent educator, motivated me toward this career path during residency. Whenever I need advice or have an impending difficult case I call Ricardo and Dr. Steve Wilson, who has also been a tremendous inspiration and support for me. I am also lucky to work with terrific residents, some of whom have gone on to careers in sexual medicine. Their burgeoning enthusiasm for our field continues to inspire me.