Michael O. Koch MD, FACS
John P. Donohue Professor and Chair, Department of Urology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Director Urology Service Line, IU Health, Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
Dr. Koch completed his undergraduate education at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and went on to complete medical school in 1981 at that same institution. He began his general surgery training at Dartmouth and after 2 years of general surgery training he spent a year working in the urologic research laboratories at that institution. During that year, his mentor Dr. Scott McDougal, moved to Vanderbilt as a new chairman and took Dr. Koch to finish his training at that institution. He completed his training at Vanderbilt and moved on to become a junior faculty member and by 1998 when he left that institution, he was the Vice-Chairman of the Department of Urology. During that time, the Vanderbilt Department of Urology grew enormously and has gained national and international attention for its contributions.
In 1998, Dr. Koch was recruited by Dean Robert Holden to be the new chair of the Department of Urology at Indiana University School of Medicine. Our department had been recognized for many years for its major contributions in testicular cancer under the leadership of Dr. John Donohue and contributions in the area of Pediatric Urology under the direction of Dr. Michael Mitchell. As those two individuals left the institution and the dean recruited a new chairman of the department, there were many changes. Overtime the department has grown from 7 faculty to 25 faculty today. Dr. Koch has been a leader within the medical school, engaged at every level. Dr. Koch has served as the chair and John P Donohue Professor of Urology at the IU School of Medicine for the past 24 years, the longest tenure of any chair at Indiana University School of Medicine.
On a national level, he has been actively engaged in all aspects of urology that have to do with maintaining the quality of urologists in the United States and the quality of resident training. He has chaired or been the president of the examination committee of the ABU/AUA, the Residency Review Committee (RRC), The American Board of the Urology, the Society of University Urologists, and the Society of Academic Chairpersons and Program Directors. There has been only one other individual that has held the positions of both ABU president and RRC Chair and Dr. Koch held these positions simultaneously. In 2015, Dr. Koch was recognized by the AUA with a Distinguished Contribution Award for these efforts.
His personal practice is primarily focused in the areas of prostate cancer and bladder cancer. He is one of the leading surgeons in the United States in robotic surgery for prostate cancer. He performed the first robotic prostatectomy in Indiana in 2002 and has, at present, performed over 2900 robotic prostatectomies, which adds to his experience of about 3000 open prostatectomies in the last 30 years of practice. In the early 1990’s he was the first to investigate high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for the treatment of localized prostate cancer, having written and conducted the first US based trial with this technology. Since that time he has had an active interest in HIFU for prostate cancer and in 2016 was the first to use HIFU for partial prostate ablation to treat a patient with prostate cancer. He is actively engaged in research collaborations with researchers at Indiana University as well as Purdue University, all directed towards improving the outcomes from the treatment of patients with genitourinary malignancies.
In 1998, Dr. Koch was recruited by Dean Robert Holden to be the new chair of the Department of Urology at Indiana University School of Medicine. Our department had been recognized for many years for its major contributions in testicular cancer under the leadership of Dr. John Donohue and contributions in the area of Pediatric Urology under the direction of Dr. Michael Mitchell. As those two individuals left the institution and the dean recruited a new chairman of the department, there were many changes. Overtime the department has grown from 7 faculty to 25 faculty today. Dr. Koch has been a leader within the medical school, engaged at every level. Dr. Koch has served as the chair and John P Donohue Professor of Urology at the IU School of Medicine for the past 24 years, the longest tenure of any chair at Indiana University School of Medicine.
On a national level, he has been actively engaged in all aspects of urology that have to do with maintaining the quality of urologists in the United States and the quality of resident training. He has chaired or been the president of the examination committee of the ABU/AUA, the Residency Review Committee (RRC), The American Board of the Urology, the Society of University Urologists, and the Society of Academic Chairpersons and Program Directors. There has been only one other individual that has held the positions of both ABU president and RRC Chair and Dr. Koch held these positions simultaneously. In 2015, Dr. Koch was recognized by the AUA with a Distinguished Contribution Award for these efforts.
His personal practice is primarily focused in the areas of prostate cancer and bladder cancer. He is one of the leading surgeons in the United States in robotic surgery for prostate cancer. He performed the first robotic prostatectomy in Indiana in 2002 and has, at present, performed over 2900 robotic prostatectomies, which adds to his experience of about 3000 open prostatectomies in the last 30 years of practice. In the early 1990’s he was the first to investigate high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for the treatment of localized prostate cancer, having written and conducted the first US based trial with this technology. Since that time he has had an active interest in HIFU for prostate cancer and in 2016 was the first to use HIFU for partial prostate ablation to treat a patient with prostate cancer. He is actively engaged in research collaborations with researchers at Indiana University as well as Purdue University, all directed towards improving the outcomes from the treatment of patients with genitourinary malignancies.
Recent Contributions to PracticeUpdate:
- Preoperative Antibiotic Use and Its Association With Postoperative Infectious Complications After Radical Cystectomy
- Clinicopathological Features and Survival Outcomes of Plasmacytoid Variant Urothelial Carcinoma of the Bladder
- Long-Term Oncological Outcomes of Patients With Paratesticular Sarcoma
- The Use of MRI to Predict Oncological Control Among Candidates for Focal Ablation of Prostate Cancer
- Gender-Specific Differences in Recurrence of Non–Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer
- Circulating Tumor Cells in Patients With Variant Urothelial Carcinoma Histology Treated With Radical Cystectomy
- Pretreatment Lymphocytopenia in Muscle-Invasive and Advanced Bladder Cancer
- Focal Ablation Targeted to the Index Lesion in Localized Prostate Cancer
- Effectiveness and Safety of Extended-Duration Prophylaxis for Venous Thromboembolism in Major Urologic Oncology Surgery
- Defects in DNA Repair Genes Predict Response to Neoadjuvant Cisplatin-Based Chemotherapy in Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer