As a clinical director I am responsible to lead a team of healthcare providers toward organization’s goals with the ultimate purpose to provide patients the best clinical care.

The Urologic Oncology section of Frontiers in Urology publishes high-quality fundamental clinical and translational research, as well as, in-depth reviews across the field of urologic oncology. This section covers the areas including, but not limited to:- Renal cell carcinoma and other renal pathology- Prostate cancer- Bladder cancer- Testicular cancer- Penile/adrenal tumors- Robotic/laparoscopic/open surgery for urological malignancies- Imaging (including radiology and nuclear medicine) of urological malignancies- Pathological aspect of urological malignanciesAll studies must contribute insights into urologic oncology by highlighting the clinical, surgical, imaging or pathological aspect of this field. Reports dealing with other fields of urology practice do not fall within the scope of this section and should be submitted to other specialized journals.

Research Topic: Diagnostic and Predictive Biomarkers in Testicular Germ Cell TumorsThe goal of this Research Topic is to provide answers to these clinical questions by use of innovative and advanced methodologies and/or pre-clinical models, validated in clinical samples (tissues and/or liquid biopsies).This Research Topic aims to contribute to the improvement of clinical care of TGCT patients, by discovering novel diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarkers of the disease, as well as novel targeted treatments with less toxicity for these young patients.

Research Topic: Tumor microenvironment of urogenital cancers: looking for novel biomarkers and treatmentsOur understanding of the tumor microenvironment has greatly evolved in recent years and led to important discoveries with implications for patients’ outcome and eligibility for targeted therapies. Urogenital malignancies, including kidney, bladder, prostate, testicular and penile cancers, comprise very diverse and interesting tumor models for investigating several aspects of the tumor microenvironment and its interaction with tumor progression. This includes the study of a wide array of immune cell populations infiltrating the tumor, but also of the interaction with stromal cells, tumor vasculature and extracellular matrix.In this Special Issue we aim to gather original contributions devoted to studying the tumor microenvironment of urogenital malignancies, with the ultimate aim of finding novel biomarkers and therapies with clinical implications for daily practice. In silico and in vitro studies are recommended to include clinical validation in patient samples. Review articles with novel perspectives and establishing the bridge between biology and clinical applications are welcomed.

Research Topic: Clinical Advances on the Evaluation and Management of Testicular Germ Cell TumoursThe goal of this Special Issue is to collate original articles and reviews that explore innovative and advanced methodologies and/or preclinical models, validated in clinical samples (tissues and/or liquid biopsies), and contribute to the improvement of clinical care of TGCT patients by discovering novel diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarkers of the disease, as well as novel targeted treatments with less toxicity for these young patients. The specific interests of this Special Issue include:• Pathobiology of TGCTs (genesis and risk factors of TGCTs);TGCTs awareness;Epidemiological trends of TGCTs;Tumor heterogeneity in TGCTs;Histopathological assessment of TGCTs (including molecular pathology and digital pathology contributions); Advances in biomarkers for TGCT patients (including tissue, noninvasive and imaging);Innovative surgical approaches for metastatic TGCTs;Management of stage I TGCT patients;Management of high-risk patients and cisplatin resistant patients;Epigenetic background of TGCTs and epigenetic drugs;Drug discovery/novel targeted treatments for TGCT patients;Long-term treatment side-effects and

EAU Section of Oncological Urology (ESOU)The ESOU covers one of the largest and most diverse subjects in medicine– oncological urology. Our scope embraces all aspects related to causes, detection, prevention, staging, screening, prognosis, non-surgical and surgical treatment of all the common adult urological cancers. We approach this immense field by stimulating scientific research, encouraging continuous education and knowledge-sharing within our subspecialty and across disciplines.

The role of telomere maintenance in urological malignancies

My first contact with research started in 1998 when I was a Biology (BSc) student. For 4 years I received a thorough grounding in basic research in the subjects of Biotechnology and Oncobiology. Since then, oncobiology has been my principal focus of research interest. Currently, I am a research fellow at The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto). My particular clinical and scientific interest and matters of my PhD subject is about telomere maintenance in urological malignancies. I´ve generated interesting results already presented at international meetings and recently submitted for publication. I won some research awards in my country and recently in Canada (2014 COUG Research Grant Award and 2015 CUOG Research Grant Award). I divide my research goals into short-term (i.e., the next two years during my research) and long-term (i.e., as an academic urologist). In the short-term I plan to be proficient in laboratory techniques (pyrosequencing and next generation sequencing techniques, FISH, cell culture, ddPCR and bioinformatics) and developing my scientific expertise in genetic and epigenetics. Working with the bioinformatics core team my goal is to understand modern era analyses of large molecular datasets. I have already begun international collaborations, and I hope to continue to evolve these during my fellowship as this will increase my experience here and enhance my research community for future years. Overall, I plan to master the understanding of telomere biology as it applies to genitourinary malignancies and ultimately complete several high-level projects, present these at international meetings and publish them in high-impact journals. In the long-term, my goal is to secure a faculty position at an academic urologic center of excellence as a surgeon scientist. I plan to bring my research skill set, honed during my residency, PhD and uro-oncology fellowship, and establish an investigative program in predictors of relapse in urologic malignancies.

History of the Fellowship ProgramFor many years, clinical fellows have held postgraduate training positions at the University of Toronto in Urology with a primary focus in oncology. For the most part, these were clinical experiences without formal research training or a structured educational program. In June 2001, the first Fellow finished a 2 year program that was structured with a research experience plus clinical activity limited to Oncology with experience in radiation and medical oncology and became the first graduate of the Program which received accreditation from the Society of Urologic Oncology the same year. Three Fellows have been accepted into the program per year. The establishment of the program has been enabled by the programmatic structure of the University of Toronto Urology Program with all faculty members identified in a subspecialty area of practice and academic focus plus the increasing focus of the teaching hospitals in more limited range of clinical areas. Finally, Canadian society is increasingly demanding care at institutions with demonstrated expertise in subspecialty oncology.The VISION of the program is to be the best Uro-Oncology Fellowship training program in the world.Our MISSION is to train Uro-Oncologists to be among the world’s best with an evidence based approach to achieve the highest standards of clinical care, a commitment to teach what they know and to conduct research directed to curing genitourinary cancer.