Focus on Faculty With Abhinav Sidana, MD

Abhinav Sidana, MD, has joined the Division of Urology in the Department of Surgery at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine. Sidana will be spearheading the management of patients with urologic cancers. His clinical practice includes both surgical and non-operative management of prostate, kidney, ureteral, testicular and bladder cancers. Sidana is also actively involved in urologic cancer research and his interests include functional prostate imaging, image-guided and focal treatments for prostate cancer and clinical trials on novel treatments for urologic cancers.

What is your educational background?

My journey into medicine began when I started medical school at the All India Institute for Medical Sciences in New Delhi. Following this, I came to the United States to pursue research for two years at the Brady Urological Institute of Johns Hopkins University under the mentorship of world-renowned researchers including Johnathan Epstein, MD, a pathologist, and Ronald Rodriguez, MD, currently urology chair at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio. My research focused on studying the outcomes of urologic cancers and translational projects on cancer immunotherapy.

During my research, I developed a keen interest in the field of urology and I consider myself very fortunate to have joined residency here at the UC College of Medicine under the mentorship of excellent surgeons such as James Donovan, MD, director of the Division of Urology and R. Bruce Bracken, MD, professor in the Department of Surgery. After residency, I continued my training in urologic oncology by completing a fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. The fellowship provided me with the wonderful opportunity to refine my surgical skills through an exposure to complex and rare oncologic cases. Under the tutelage of experts such as Peter Pinto, MD, my primary research centered on functional imaging of the prostate, specifically on the role of multiparametric MRI in the diagnosis, staging and focal treatment of prostate cancer. Furthermore, I was integrally involved in the clinical trials studying renal cancers. 

What made you decide to come back to UC?

My five years of training at UC provided me an ideal platform to be academically and clinically successful in the field of urology. The doctors, the staff and the administration have been like a family to me and it is a bond that I have carried with me since residency. The Division of Urology here is renowned in our urology community and is ranked among the top 50 programs in the nation. Furthermore, my research interests align very well with the direction of our Division. To its credit, UC Medical Center is one of the early adopters and regional leaders in prostate imaging. My goal is to use the infrastructure here to develop focal treatments for prostate cancer patients to reduce treatment related morbidity. Additionally, Cincinnati as a city provides me the right amalgamation of city life along with family values which I seek. While I have explored quite a bit of the city already, I believe that this dynamic place has a lot more to offer in terms of culinary and cultural experiences.

Tell us about your family.

I have been married for five years and my wife is currently training to be an oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Cincinnati. Our extended families are back in India. 

What type of outside interests do you have?

I am a sports enthusiast and in my spare time I like to follow cricket and American football. My wife and I are ardent travelers and we hope to explore as much of the world as possible. Additionally, we enjoy discovering local cuisines and attending art shows.