EMJ Interviews - Prasanna Sooriakumaran - Urology and Prostate Cancer Surgery

Aug 30, 2026

A detailed interview with Prasanna Sooriakumaran, a leading urological and robotic surgeon, focuses on how his early exposure to urology shaped his career and how international training influenced his practice. The discussion covers experience gained through fellowships and high-intensity research activity in the USA, alongside the role of different healthcare systems. He also addresses current literature gaps in advanced prostate cancer and describes ongoing research plans at University College London Hospitals, including studies comparing conventional and Retzius-sparing robotic prostate surgery.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Q1 Career-defining moments in urology and prostate cancer surgery

Q2 Learning through international training and travel

Q3 Literature gaps and research topics needing greater attention

Q4 Current findings and departmental research

Interview EMJ Interviews Prasanna Sooriakumaran Lead for Urology and Consultant Urological Surgeon, Cleveland Clinic London, UK; Consultant Urological and Robotic Surgeon, University College London Hospitals; Honorary Senior Clinical Researcher, University of Oxford, UK Ciataion: EMJ Urol. 2022;10[1]:56-60. DOI/10.33590/emjurol/22I0812 . [https://doi.org/10.33590/emjurol/22I0812](https://doi.org/10.33590/emjurol/22I0812) . Q1 Was there a defining moment or set of moments that led you to choose a career in urology and specifically prostate cancer (PCa) surgery? When I was a House Officer after finishing medical school, the first job I did was in urology. I had never considered urology beforehand and had not been exposed to it much through medical school. When I did that urology job, I remember meeting the consultants and thinking that this was actually very nice. I remember going to some of their houses and they all had nice sports cars and houses, and I thought this is a job with a good lifestyle. Following this, I went to London and worked for Lord Bernard Ribeiro, who became the first Black President of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) . I worked for him, and he was a true General Surgeon. He worked in general surgery, and also did thyroids and urology. When I worked for him, I really enjoyed the urology aspect of the role, so that pushed me into urology. In terms of PCa, when I was a Junior Trainee, one of my programme directors took a liking to me and sorted me outwith a fellowship in New York, USA, fora few years with a very famous PCa surgeon to learn robotic PCa surgery from him. Q2Your personal education and professional experience have involved you travelling to numerous destinations such as the USA and Germany. Where do you believe you gained the most experience, and do you believe travelling was integral for you to make it to where you are today? Yes, it was certainly the case. I believe you always learn more when you learn from different people and different systems. So, even if you work with great people here, there is more to learn elsewhere as well. There's more than one way of skinning a cat and there’s more than one way of doing something, and there's more than one good way of doing something. It's very useful, no matter how good your training is locally, to expand your horizons, see different perspectives, and actually going and working with the best in the world. New York, Sweden, Oxford, and London, etc., it all adds to that mix of who you are as a doctor, as a urology surgeon, as a PCa surgeon. Therefore, it was a really helpful experience because it gave me different perspectives and different ways of doing things. I always learn something from different people 56 Urology ● August 2022 ● Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 Interview who are all experts in their field. It's not like it's a competitive thing; it is in fact a collegial thing. In terms of bang for my buck, I believe the place where I gained the best experience was in New York, USA, because I went on fellowship there for 18 months. On most days, I pretty much worked from 6 a.m.–8 p.m. While there, I published 36 papers in 18 months, presented over 50 times at international meetings in 18 months, and had 11 months in surgery. I did what would have been quite a few years’worth of training condensed into a very short period of time because of the level of intensity. It was where I trained with oneof the world leaders in my field of PCa, and is probably where I learnt the most in the shortest period of time. Q3You currently have two published books, over 20 book chapters, and 10 newspaper articles to your name for your research in PCa and robotic surgery. What do you believe to be the current gaps in literature and what topics merit greater attention? One of the things that I'm very much interested in is the value of surgery and robotic surgery, in particular in males who are suff

FAQs

What originally influenced Prasanna Sooriakumaran to choose urology and prostate cancer surgery?

He describes early exposure during House Officer training, where he found urology appealing through the lifestyle and mentorship he encountered, and later career direction through an opportunity to train in robotic prostate cancer surgery.

Why does he consider international travel and working with different systems important?

He emphasizes learning from diverse people and healthcare approaches, stating that there are multiple good ways to do things and that training with experts worldwide broadens clinical perspective.

What key gap in prostate cancer literature does he highlight?

He notes the need to identify patients with life-threatening, beyond-localised disease who may benefit from cure and improved life expectancy, moving beyond optimizing localised outcomes.

What research is currently being conducted in his department?

He reports a grant-funded study at University College London Hospitals comparing conventional robotic prostate surgery with Retzius-sparing robotic-assisted surgery to evaluate outcomes in men at high risk of incontinence after robotic prostatectomy.

Aug 30, 2026

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