Dr. Nirmish Singla

Dr. Max Kates is the R. Christian B. Evensen Professor and an associate professor of urology and oncology at the Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins. He also directs the Division of Urologic Oncology for the Brady Urological Institute. Dr. Kates completed his undergraduate degree at Wesleyan University in Connecticut before pursuing his medical degree at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He then went on to train at Johns Hopkins for his urologic residency and Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) fellowship. Dr. Kates has expertise in all areas of urologic oncology, with a particular emphasis on bladder and prostate cancer. With training in open, endoscopic, and robotic surgical approaches, Dr. Kates’ surgical philosophy is to assess the unique needs of each patient, and develop the right treatment plan for their malignancy. He is very hands on in his approach in the clinic and the operating room, and believes open communication with the patient, the patient’s family, and referring providers is key to ensuring a speedy recovery. As the clinical director of the bladder cancer multidisciplinary clinic, Dr. Kates works with the team at the Johns Hopkins Greenberg Bladder Cancer Institute to deliver a personalized approach to bladder cancer utilizing cutting edge precision medicine approaches. Dr. Kates’ research interests involve novel treatments for cancers of the urinary tract. Dr. Kates has authored more than 135 journal articles in the fields of bladder, prostate, and kidney cancer. He currently has a provisional patent for a novel intravesical chemotherapy developed with nano-engineer collaborators. Additionally, Dr. Kates has made important discoveries into the mechanism of action of intravesical BCG, the most common treatment for bladder cancer. He is the principal investigator on multiple trials, and is currently leading EA8212 BRIDGE, which is a randomized trial open in over 150 centers in the United States comparing BCG to GemDoce chemotherapy for early stage bladder cancer. To inquire about an appointment or make a referral, Dr. Kates can be contacted by phone (410) 614-0009. Dr. Kates is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in Cystectomy. His top areas of expertise are Bladder Cancer, Urothelial Cancer, Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer, Cystectomy, and Nephrectomy.

Armine Smith, M.D. is the director of urologic oncology at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital, and an associate clinical professor of urology at the Brady Urological Institute of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is a member of Greenberg Bladder Cancer Institute and the director of Women's Bladder Cancer Program at Sibley Memorial Hospital. She is also a Mary and Armeane Choksi Scholar. Dr. Smith earned her medical degree from the University of California in San Francisco. She completed a residency in urology at the Cleveland Clinic, followed by a fellowship in urologic oncology at the National Cancer Institute, where she focused on development of personalized targeted therapies for bladder cancer. Dr. Smith is a member of the Society of Urologic Oncology, American Association of Cancer Research and American Urological Association. She has been selected multiple times as a Washington, DC and Virginia top urologist. Dr. Smith specializes in advanced open, minimally invasive and robotic urologic surgery for urologic malignancies, including bladder and upper tract urothelial cancer, kidney cancer, testicular cancer, penile and urethral cancer. In bladder cancer surgery she specializes in bladder preservation, complex urinary diversions, including continent orthotopic neobladder and continent catheterizable Indiana pouch techniques. In kidney cancer, her expertise focuses on partial nephrectomy, with the goal of oncologically-sound maximum nephron-sparing surgery. She has contributed to various research, publications and presentations on topics of urology. Dr. Smith has made TV appearances, lectured domestically and internationally, and authored chapters on urothelial and kidney cancer. Her current research focuses on elucidation of risk factors for bladder cancer development, oncologically safe organ preservation in both men and women with bladder and kidney cancer and improving outcomes from bladder cancer treatments. Listen to Dr. Smith’s Cancer Matters podcast episode to learn more about her work. Dr. Smith is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in Cystectomy. Her top areas of expertise are Bladder Cancer, Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer, Urothelial Cancer, Cystectomy, and Reconstructive Urology Surgery.

Ahmed Ghazi is an associate professor of urology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is the Director of Surgical Simulation Training and the Division of Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery within the Johns Hopkins Brady Urological Institute. Dr. Ghazi specializes in urologic surgical oncology using the latest techniques of minimally invasive surgery for prostate, kidney, bladder, ureteral and other genitourinary organ cancers. He also as specializes in minimal invasive treatment of complex stones of the urinary tract. Dr. Ghazi is a pioneer in the field of patient-specific surgical simulation, which has applications for training future surgeons as well as improving outcomes for patients through individualized modeling. When planning for a complex surgery, Dr. Ghazi constructs 3D models of the patient’s anatomy in order to plan and rehearse surgery prior to the actual surgery. These models span from digital renderings to tangible models used to practice the critical components of your surgery. Dr. Ghazi received his medical degree from Cairo University in Egypt in 2000, where he also completed his surgery training and urology residency. From there, Dr. Ghazi completed a laparoscopic fellowship in Paris, France in 2008, followed by a second laparoscopic fellowship in Austria in 2009. While practicing in Europe, Dr. Ghazi was accepted to the European Board of Urology. Dr. Ghazi continued his training at the University of Rochester, New York through a two-year fellowship in the robotic treatment of various urologic cancers. He then joined the staff at the urology department of University of Rochester in 2012 where he continued to practice until joining Johns Hopkins Medicine. Dr. Ghazi believes in a reciprocal relationship between innovation, surgery & research where each informs and strengthens the others. He strives to adopt innovative surgical technologies that are evidence-based, benefit his patients and translate directly to improved patient outcomes. Dr. Ghazi is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in Cystectomy. His top areas of expertise are Prostate Cancer, Kidney Stones, Boils, Prostatectomy, and Nephrectomy.