Laurence S. Baskin, MD

Professor of Urology

Frank Hinman, Jr., MD Distinguished Professorship in Pediatric Urology

Education

BS, 1982, University of California, Berkeley, CA, Biophysics

MD, 1986, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, Medicine

Residency, 1991, University of California, San Francisco, CA, Urology

Fellowship, 1993, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, Pediatric Urology

Biography

Laurence Baskin, MD graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelors of Science in Biophysics and attended medical school at UCLA. Dr. Baskin completely his urology training at UCSF followed by a two years of pediatric urology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Since completing his fellowship in 1993, Baskin has been on the faculty at UCSF, practicing pediatric urology exclusively.

Baskin former chief of pediatric urology from 1997 to 2024, is primary author on over 200 peer-reviewed articles, editor of the Handbook of Pediatric Urology, Hinman’s atlas of Pediatric Urologic Surgery and Assistant editor of the pediatric section, Journal Urology. Baskin is Principal Investigator on basic urologic research, clinical and mentoring grants funded by the National Institutes of Health. He is presently head of the NIH study section on urologic disease.

Dr. Baskin is President of the Society of Pediatric Urology, Past President of the Society of Fetal Urology, Asian Pacific Association of Pediatric Urology, American Association of Pediatric Urology and Genito-Urinary Reconstructive Surgeons. He is an active member of the American Urological Association, Society of Pediatric Urologic Surgeons and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Baskin is a past member of the American Board of Urology exam committee.

Dr. Baskin is recipient of numerous awards including the John Duckett Medal from the European Society of Pediatric Urology, 2007, and the 2012 AUA Foundation John W. Duckett, MD Pediatric Urology Research Excellence Award.

Dr. Baskin is especially proud to have participated in humanitarian pediatric urology surgical trips to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, China and Saigon, Vietnam.

Clinical Interests

Pediatric Urology at UCSF is committed to excellence in patient care. Led by Laurence Baskin, MD the UCSF pediatric team has expertise in all areas of pediatric urologic surgical reconstruction. Genital anomalies such as hypospadias, undescended testicles, hydroceles and hernia are routinely repaired in the outpatient setting. We have extensive experience in managing common urologic problems such as urinary tract infections, day and night-time incontinence, vesicoureteral reflux, urinary tract dilation and hydronephrosis. More complex urologic diagnoses are also routinely handled, such as exstrophy, disorders of sex development, Wilms tumor, and bladder rehabilitation secondary to neurogenic lesions, such as myelomeningocele. Minimally invasive surgery and laparoscopic surgery are now the standard of care for our team.

Baskin and his staff take pride in personally performing their own radiologic and urodynamic procedures for those patients with bladder dysfunction, urinary tract infections, hydronephrosis and incontinence. Pediatric Urology at UCSF is recognized nationally and internationally for leadership in urologic research and innovation in pediatric urologic surgeries.

Hypospadias and Genital Reconstruction

Baskin has extensive operative experience in the management of hypospadias and genital reconstruction. He has written extensively on all aspects of this subject, lectures extensively and has produced numerous videos on various hypospadias techniques.

Urinary Tract Reconstruction  (Incontinence, Myelomeningocele/Spina Bifida and Pediatric Tumors)

Baskin has developed a large surgical practice in pediatric urologic reconstruction, involving the treatment of patients with urinary incontinence, bladder dysfunction, posterior urethral valves, reflux of urine and urologic tumors. He directs the urologic care of a large population of patients with myelomeningocele

Pediatric Urology Clinical Fellowship

The Pediatric Urology Fellowship at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital consists of one year of clinical pediatric urology and one to two-years of basic research. Advanced training in all aspects of pediatric urology is offered.

The program is an accredited fellowship by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Research Interests

Laboratory Research

The mission of the Baskin laboratory is to investigate the causes of congenital and acquired pediatric urologic diseases. By understanding etiology we hope to advance prospects for cure. The main focus of our research is to understand how cells signal and communicate during normal and abnormal development and the effects of abnormal prenatal environmental exposure.

The Baskin laboratory has been continuously funded from the National Institute of Health since 1995. Presently the lab has NIH funding for basic research in the areas of hypospadias and bladder development. The lab also has a grant from the National Science Foundation studying sexual differentiation in collaboration UC Berkeley and the spotted hyena colony.

Clinical Research

The Baskin team is participating in two NIH sponsored clinical research trials. The first is the TIDES study about how everyday chemicals in food, cosmetics, and household products may affect children’s health and development. TIDES researchers are particularly interested in how the mother’s exposure to these chemicals while pregnant may affect children before they are born. Presently, TIDES is enrolling pregnant women and their babies (http://obgyn.medschool.ucsf.edu/mfm/clin_studies/tides.aspx)

The second is the MOMS trial which is a NIH-sponsored multicenter clinical trial which began in 2002 to evaluate the best treatment for myelomeningocele — fetal surgery or surgical repair after birth. Our role is to determine the long-term bladder function in these children.

Mentoring

Multidisciplinary K12 Urologic Research (KURe) Career Development Program

The KURe program seeks to recruit a group of talented junior faculty from diverse disciplines who are interested in pursuing careers in the study of benign urological diseases. KURe scholars will receive career development training and support to develop the skills necessary to become outstanding independent investigators able to lead multidisciplinary research teams. Successful scholars will ultimately use the program to obtain NIH research funding and tenure track or equivalent academic positions. The program presently has five scholars led by the Dr. Baskin the principal investigator.

Bladder Development

The focus of Baskin's urinary bladder research is on development, with a special emphasis on cellular signaling. The long-term goal of this NIH-funded research is to develop new therapies to treat bladder dysfunction and urinary incontinence. Baskin is specifically interested in how smooth muscle forms in the bladder and how the bladder heals during injury. This work has led to novel experimental techniques to reconstruct the abnormal bladder using an acellular tissue matrix. Baskin has enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with Gerald Cunha, PhD. This research has been presented at a myriad of national and international meetings.

Genital Development Encompassing the Center for the Treatment and Study of Hypospadias

The focus of genital research is on normal and abnormal genital development. Recent efforts have concentrated on the increasing incidence of hypospadias and an investigation on endocrine disruptors as a possible etiology. Baskin recently led an international National Institutes of Health funded conference to study this important health problem.

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View my research publications