News from leading international academic urology departments

Globalization has impacted upon every aspect of our lives. The digital revolution sophisticated transportation systems, and cultural understanding, have all facilitated sharing ideas and improving lives. This maturation of our world has also caused positive changes in medicine. Initially, dissemination of thoughts and ideas were dominated by a few western focused publications. Over the past decade there has been a rapid evolution that has revealed the plethora of important ideas and practices from around the globe. The Asian Journal of Urology (AJU) is an influential new world avenue for sharing important ideas and breakthroughs. Relative to other urologic journals, it is in its infancy, however AJU has already made an important contribution to our knowledge and treatment of urologic pathology. It provides a critical venue for sharing knowledge and thinking with our colleagues. I have been impressed with the editors’ commitment to improve upon traditional scientific journalistic practices in searching for novel educational processes and presentation of material. This issue represents an inaugural venture whereby the AJU seeks to highlight academic urology departments around the globe, giving unique insights into resources and practices specific to an area. This is a unique opportunity for readers to obtain a flavor of a local urologic culture. We at The Smith Institute for Urology of the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine in New York are honored to be the first center selected to present our work. Every center is known for specific expertise. At The Arthur Smith Institute for Urology, we have vast experience in minimally invasive procedures to treat all urologic diseases. We boast a long history of cultivating urologic advances, including our pioneering efforts in keyhole kidney stone surgery, laparoscopic kidney surgery, prostate cancer treatment, managing pelvic pain, robotic surgery, and telemedicine. This issue samples contributions over a wide spectrum of topics from our institution and the following are a few highlights. Gupta and associates [1] show the efficacy of