Advancing Men’s Health: Black History Month Spotlight on Dr. Nelson Eddie Bennett Jr.
Celebrating his leadership in advancing men’s health and supporting the next generation of urologists.
Dr. Nelson Bennett is a Professor of Urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine with a clinical and research focus on Male Sexual Medicine and Surgery. He graduated from Mercer University with a degree in Biomedical Engineering. He completed his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and then a residency in Urologic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. After
finishing a 2-year fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Sexual Medicine and Surgery, he joined the faculty at the Lahey Clinic in Massachusetts before joining the faculty at Northwestern in 2016. In addition to serving as a Professor of Urology at the Feinberg School of Medicine, he is the Co-Director of the Andrology Fellowship.
Dr. Bennett has been actively involved as a leader in many national and international organizations. He is the former Associate Editor of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, as well as a reviewer for numerous peer-reviewed journals. He has served as the Treasurer for the Sexual Medicine Society of North America (SMSNA) and as an active committee member in the International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM). He serves as an oral board examiner for the American Board of Urology (ABU). He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, dozens of presented abstracts, several book chapters, and dozens of invited lectures on the national and international stage.
Dr. Bennett is a board-certified urologist and microsurgeon who specializes in the management of erectile dysfunction, Peyronie’s disease, disorders of ejaculation and orgasm, vasectomy, penile prosthesis implantation, and microsurgical varicocele repair. He treats hypogonadism (low testosterone) associated with comorbid conditions and congenital issues. His primary research focuses on sexual function after radical pelvic cancer surgery, Peyronie’s disease, and low testosterone.
Q & A
What early interests or influences informed your decision to attain a biomedical engineering degree and ultimately become a urologist and microsurgeon?
As a young boy, I got into a fair bit of trouble when I took apart the vacuum cleaner to see
where the suction came from. To my family’s amazement, I was able to reassemble the
vacuum, and my love figuring out how things work was solidified. Later, the toaster oven
and the VCR (remember those) were participants in my folly.
I entered university focused on majoring in mechanical engineering, however, before the start of the sophomore year, the school received accreditation for a biomedical engineering degree program. I immediately changed my major to biomedical engineering. I was excited to integrate biology and biochemistry with engineering. This excitement was certainly influenced by my mother who is a biology professor. I began to envision a future in designing medical devices for human use.
During my junior year, our class visited the Bard engineering and manufacturing facility in Georgia. I spent the day with two engineers who were clearly unhappy with their job. I made the decision right then and there that additional education will be required, most likely outside of the engineering space. Luckily, I only needed to take one additional class to complete the pre-medical curriculum.
I entered medical school dead set on becoming an Orthopedic surgeon as I figured that it will be a logical landing place for a biomedical engineer and doctor. That notion was shattered when I met a few of the Ortho attendings and residents.
Given your clinical and research interest, please share what recent urologic
advancements regarding men’s sexual health do you find most encouraging and why.
One “not-so-recent” advancement is Low intensity Shock wave (LiSWT) therapy for erectile dysfunction. LiSWT is a huge boon for erectile dysfunction as it remains the only potential “cure” of organically based ED. What is exciting is that this technology is being explored for use in the treatment of other urological diseases.
Additionally, there are interesting targets for ED treatment that are rising to clinical notoriety, including nitric oxide and dopamine neurotransmitters and calcium-regulated ion channels. These alternative targets offer potential for managing severe ED.
Though slowly rising, currently, less than 3% of practicing urologists are African American. By contrast, double that percentage of overall physicians in America are black. Given your experience as a Program Director and Oral Board Examiner, can you point to special challenges which may explain that discrepancy and how more
young black doctors can be encouraged to enter urology?
The biggest reason is that there are very few Black medical students overall. Approximately 7% of all US medical students are Black. A second reason is lack of early exposure. Some students are not exposed to urology until it’s very late in medical school. At that point it’s difficult to build a competitive application in an ultra-competitive specialty. This leads to another reason: urology is one of the most competitive specialties. Entry into urology training programs require exceptional grades, stellar letters or recommendations, and have heavy research expectations. In my opinion, the way to encourage more Black medical students to enter urology is early exposure, access to research, and local mentorship.
In your limited free time, what activities do you most enjoy?
Generally, I’m a quiet, introverted person. Most evenings I try to be home for dinner with the family. On the weekends, I’m often practicing martial arts with my daughter, running errands, watching college football, catching some stand-up comedy, or making Sunday dinner.
