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An expert in male infertility and prostate cancer, Dr. Peter Schlegel has been named Chairman of the Department of Urology at Weill Cornell Medical College in NewYork City and Urologist-in-Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/ Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Dr. Schlegel is also Associate Professor of Urology and Associate Professor of Reproductive Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and Associate Attending Urologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

During his 13 years at Weill Cornell Medical College and throughout his career, Dr. Schlegel has continually demonstrated his exceptional abilities as a clinician, teacher, scientist, and leader in his field, said Dr. Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College.

Dr. Schlegel has contributed a number of significant advances in urological treatment. He is responsible for improving the survival rate for men with prostate cancer and, through pioneering techniques of sperm retrieval, for helping men, previously thought to be sterile, to become fathers, said Dr. Herbert Pardes, President and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. Schlegel says, Building on the Department's reputation for excellence, I will seek to expand our programs in pediatric urology,male infertility, and impotence; further develop our expertise in the treatment of voiding problems, including female urology and prostatic diseases;and build on the Department's urologic oncology program to facilitate continued optimal care for patients with bladder, prostate, kidney, and other urologic cancers. In the coming months, the Department will also recruit additional clinical staff and increase the number of formalized outcomes studies of urologic treatments.

Dr. Schlegel has been the principal investigator of a study that provided the anatomical basis for the so-called nerve-sparing prostatectomy (removal of the prostate). This prostate-cancer treatment is associated with both a marked decrease in mortality and the preservation of sexual and urinary function. He has also published studies helping to define the genetic causes of the most severe forms of infertility. Once thought to be sterile, men with no sperm in their ejaculate are now able to become fathers,thanks in part to advances made by Dr. Schlegel, such as genetic testing to optimize sperm retrieval.

Dr. Schlegel has been Acting Chairman of Urology since 2001, succeeding Dr. E. Darracott Vaughan, who served as Chairman for more than 20 years. Through Dr. Vaughan's leadership, the Department grew to be one of the most respected Urology Centers in the country.

Receiving his medical degree from the University of Massachusetts, Dr. Schlegel completed his internship in General Surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was also a resident and faculty member before joining the then NewYork Hospital-Cornell Medical Center as an Assistant Professor of Surgery in 1991. Since that time, he has assumed increasing responsibility in the Department of Urology. Dr. Schlegel is also Staff Scientist with The Population Council and Visiting Associate Physician with The Rockefeller University Hospital.

Dr. Schlegel is the co-editor of the Journal of Andrology, which is supported by Weill Cornell Medical College, The Population Council, and The American Society of Andrology. He is widely published and has received numerous professional honors and awards including the American Infertility Association Award for Special Contribution and Continued Devotion to Family Building(1999); the Ambrose Reed AUA Socioeconomics Essay Contest, First Prize (1998);and the Male Reproduction/Urology Prize Paper, American Society for Reproductive Medicine Annual Meeting (1995).

Dr. Schlegel has held, or holds, numerous leadership positions in nearly all U.S. professional organizations dedicated to urology and male infertility. Among other positions, he is currently Vice President of the Society of Male Reproduction/Urology and former President of the American Urological Association's Society for the Study of Male Reproduction (2002-2003). He has also been invited internationally to participate in a variety of visiting professorships and fellowships. Dr. Schlegel holds two patents for a micropipet holder and Sperm-1 protein.