Postponed: The 2020 Ferdinand C. Valentine Award and Lecture: “Nitric Oxide Revolutionized Lower Genitourinary Tract Therapies: From Bench to Bedside”

Dr. Burnett's lecture will review original discoveries of the basic science of nitric oxide signaling within the lower genitourinary tract and its translational science that has led to developing clinical treatments.

Arthur L. Burnett, MD, MBA, FACS,is the Patrick C. Walsh Distinguished Professor of Urology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he specializes in sexual medicine, major pelvic reconstruction, and the management of cancers of the genitalia and lower urinary tract including prostate cancer.  

Over the past 30 years, Dr. Burnett has maintained a clinical practice. His major clinical interest is the preservation of quality of life in the face of medical conditions affecting pelvic functions including sexual function and their treatments, with an emphasis on surgical techniques and clinical procedures that improve functional outcomes in prostate cancer patients. 

Dr. Burnett’s career in sexual medicine and men’s sexual health was heightened during his post-graduate training at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions when he became engaged in studies that advanced the role of nitric oxide as the principal mediator of penile erection. The discoveries he made in this field explained how nitric oxide is released in the penis and creates the natural effect of penile erection. This work contributed substantially to the rapidly evolving science of penile erections in the early 1990s and was directly associated with the innovation of oral therapies, such as Viagra, to treat erectile dysfunction.  

He has continued to study how nitric oxide mediates erections and maintains penile health, and conversely, how its absence contributes to a host of lower genitourinary tract dysfunctions including priapism (unintentional, prolonged erection). He also was the lead urologist on the surgical team that performed the first-ever composite penile/scrotal/lower abdominal wall transplant surgery. 

Dr. Burnett also founded and leads UroMissionsWorks Inc, a 501c (3) non-profit organization, whose mission is to provide educational services for urology trainees in underserved populations in resource-poor locations worldwide. 

Dr. Burnett received his AB degree in Biology from Princeton University and MD and MBA degrees from Johns Hopkins University medical and business schools, respectively. He performed his post-graduate training in general surgery, urology, and reconstructive urology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.