Education: Urologic Oncology Fellowship: Our Fellows

Our Fellows

At Vanderbilt, our fellows achieve outstanding clinical and research goals during and after their fellowships. Our fellows go on to lead academic urology and research programs and train future leaders in our field.

Current Fellows

Former Fellows

  • Ruchika Talwar, MD, MMHC

    Assistant Professor
    Department of Urology
    Medical Director
    Episodes of Care, Population Health
    Division of Urologic Oncology

    Medical School: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ
    Residency: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt University Medical Center

    Dr. Ruchika Talwar is a urologic oncologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Medical Director in the Episodes of Care Office, where she leads and operationalizes VUMC’s specialty value-based care programs, including Medicare models and the innovative MyHealth Bundles program. She is a residency graduate from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, where she was affiliated with the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the Wharton School. She completed a Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) fellowship and Masters of Management in Healthcare at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Talwar has served in several national leadership roles within organized medicine, including Chair of the American Urological Association's residents and fellows committee, the Health Policy, Young Urologic Oncologists, and Women in Urologic Oncology Committees of the SUO, and is currently the Fundraising Chair for the AUAPAC. She held the H. Logan Holtgrewe Legislative Fellowship in 2022, when she spent time working on Capitol Hill in the office of Congressman Darren Soto (FL-09). Dr. Talwar’s clinical practice includes both robotic and open approaches to urologic cancer surgery, with a focus on patient-centered care. Her academic work in health policy, value transformation, drug pricing, and costs of care has been published in several JAMA journals and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. She makes several trips a year to Washington, DC, meeting with Congressional representatives as a passionate advocate for improving the quality of care provided to patients in the US. 

  • Woodson Smelser, MD

    Assistant Professor
    Washington University, St. Louis, MO

    Medical School: University of Missouri
    Residency: University of Kansas Medical Center
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt University Medical Center

  • Christopher Wallis, MD, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Urology
    Department of Surgery, University of Toronto and Urologic Oncologist, Mount Sinai Hospital

    Medical School: University of British Columbia 
    Residency: University of Toronto
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN

  • Amy N. Luckenbaugh, MD, FACS

    Assistant Professor
    Department of Urology
    Division of Urologic Oncology

    Medical Degree: State University of New York at Buffalo
    Residency: University of Michigan
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt University Medical Center
    Clinical Interests: Bladder Cancer, Kidney Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Testis Cancer, Urologic Cancer

    Dr. Luckenbaugh is a high-volume surgeon whose clinical focus centers around the comprehensive care of patients with urologic malignancies. She currently serves as the chair of Women in Urologic Oncology, and the secretary for the Society of Women in Urology, and through her research aims to mitigate variation in healthcare delivery.

  • Aaron Laviana, MD, MBA

    Assistant Professor of Surgery and Perioperative Care
    University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School

    Medical School: Georgetown University, School of Medicine 
    Residency:  University of California, Los Angeles
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt Urologic Oncology Fellowship
     

    Full Bio

  • Daniel Lee, MD, MS

    Assistant Professor
    Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, Penn Urology

    Medical School: SUNY Stony Brook Medical School
    Residency: New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center 
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt Urologic Oncology Fellowship - 2016-2018 


    Full Bio

  • Mark Tyson, MD

    Assistant Professor of Urology
    Mayo Clinic Phoenix

    Medical School: Dartmouth Medical School 
    Residency:  Mayo Clinic, Arizona
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt Urologic Oncology Fellowship

    Full Bio

  • Kristen R. Scarpato, MD, MPH

    Associate Professor
    Department of Urology
    Residency Program Director
    Department of Urology
    Vice Chair of Education
    Department of Urology
    Division of Urologic Oncology

    Medical Degree: Tufts University School of Medicine
    Residency: University of Connecticut Health Center
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt University Medical Center
    Clinical Interests: Bladder Cancer, Genitourinary Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Prostatectomy, Ultrasound Fusion Biopsy/Artemis
     

    Dr. Scarpato, MD, MPH, is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Urology Residency Program and Vice Chair of Education. She has interests in resident and medical student education, surgical simulation, and mentorship. She remains committed to advancing the field of urology through education and maintains a strong interest in both patient and resident education. She enjoys collaborating on educational endeavors with numerous local and national organizations. Dr. Scarpato’s clinical practice focuses on the diagnosis and management of bladder and prostate cancer. She has a particular interest in focal therapy and salvage prostate ablation, as well as advanced prostate cancer.

  • Brock B. O’Neil, MD

    Assistant Professor
    University of Utah

    Medical School: University of Rochester
    Residency:  University of Utah 
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt Urologic Oncology Fellowship 

    Full Bio
     

  • John Eifler, MD

    First Urology

    Medical School: New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center 
    Residency: Johns Hopkins
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt Urologic Oncology Fellowship 

    Full Bio
     

  • William Sohn, MD

    Medical School: New York Medical College
    Residency:  University of California, Irvine
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt Urologic Oncology Fellowship

    Full Bio
     

  • Jeffrey C Bassett, MD, MPH

    Hoag Hospital

    Medical School: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine 
    Residency:  David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt Urologic Oncology Fellowship

    Full Bio
     

  • Chad Ritch, MD, MBA

    Medical School: University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine 
    Residency:  Columbia University Medical Center
    Fellowship:  Vanderbilt Urologic Oncology Fellowship 

    Full Bio
     

  • Matthew J. Resnick, MD, MPH

    Chief Medical Officer
    Embold Health

    Medical School: University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine 
    Residency:  University of Pennsylvania
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt Urologic Oncology Fellowship

    Full Bio
     

  • Kirk A Keegan III, MD, MPH

    Senior Medical Director
    Janssen Research and Development

    Medical School: Georgetown University, Washington D.C.
    Residency: University of California, Davis
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt University Medical Center

  • Todd Morgan, MD

    Urology Chief, Division of Urologic Oncology
    University of Michigan

    Medical School: Harvard Medical School
    Residency:  University of Washington
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt Urologic Oncology Fellowship
     

    Full Bio
     

  • Alison M. Christie, MD

    Section Chief, Urology
    James H. Quillen VA Medical Center

    Medical School: Jefferson Medical College 
    Residency: University of Michigan Health System 
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt Urologic Oncology Fellowship

    Full Bio

  • Carl J. Bischoff, MD

    Urology Austin

    Medical School: Louisiana State University Medical School
    Residency: University of Florida at Gainesville
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt Urologic Oncology Fellowship 

    Full Bio
     

  • Daniel A. Barocas, MD, MPH, FACS

    Professor
    Department of Urology
    Executive Vice Chair
    Department of Urology
    Division of Urologic Oncology

    Medical School: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
    Residency: New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center
    Fellowship: Vanderbilt University Medical Center
    Clinical Interests: Genitourinary Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Kidney Cancer, Bladder Cancer, Laparoscopy and Robotics

    Dr. Barocas is an accomplished researcher, focusing on quality of life, quality of care, healthcare disparities and comparative effectiveness. He is the principal investigator of a multi-center study on the effectiveness and side effects of different treatments for prostate cancer.