The Operating Theatre Journal - Journal - Page 20
Professor James Catto receives ‘Life Time Achievement Award’
for bladder and prostate cancer research
• Professor James Catto honoured with ‘Life Time Achievement Award’ from the European Association of Urology
• The distinguished consultant surgeon helped make Sheffield an internationally recognised centre for urological cancer care and played
a pivotal role in bringing revolutionary robotic surgery to the region
• He is currently heading up a pioneering study testing the use of at-home urine self-testing kits for bladder patients and his academic
department at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital has helped raise over £30 million to fund vital research to improve the diagnosis, care
and treatment of patients who suffer with distressing and sometimes life-threatening urological conditions.
A distinguished consultant surgeon who has
helped make Sheffield an internationally
recognised centre for urological cancer
care has been honoured with the European
Association of Urology (EAU) Frans Debruyne
‘Life Time Achievement Award’.
Professor James Catto, Consultant Urological
Surgeon at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust and National Institute for
Health and Care Research (NIHR) Professor
at the University of Sheffield received the
prestigious award in recognition of his
longstanding and important contribution to
urological practice and care.
Professor Catto’s remarkable career and
research spans 20 years, and includes a long
tenure as Editor-in-Chief of the EAU’s European
Journal, a post he has held since 2014.
The eminent consultant urological surgeon is
based at one of the largest urological surgery
units in the country, at the Royal Hallamshire
Hospital, and played a leading role in bringing
revolutionary robotic surgery to South
Yorkshire. This has enabled specially trained
surgeons to perform thousands of less invasive
cancer surgeries on patients from across the
region since the Da Vinci Si robot was installed
in 2013, and a second robot in 2019.
Above: Professor James Catto (right) is presented with the Frans Debruyne Life Time
Achievement Award by EAU Secretary General Professor Chris Chapple and the EAU’s 3rd
and oldest surviving Secretary General Professor Frans Debruyne, who the award is named
after at the EAU’s 38th annual congress in Milan, Italy.
Throughout his career Professor Catto has
made a significant difference to the lives of
many people living with urological conditions
affecting the kidney, prostate, and bladder
through his innovative research. He runs an
academic centre for urological research at
the Royal Hallamshire Hospital investigating
the biology and management of urological
cancers. Since it was established in 1999,
the Department has helped raise over £30
million to fund vital research to improve the
diagnosis, care and treatment of patients who
suffer with distressing and sometimes lifethreatening urological conditions.
Other work includes helping to design the
national ‘Be Clear on Cancer Blood in Pee’
campaign. The campaign was rolled out
nationally in 2013-14 and again in 2016 and
2018, and used everyday language to help
people feel more comfortable when discussing
symptoms of bladder and kidney cancer with
their GP.
Most recently he was awarded funding for a
new study pioneering the use of at-home urine
self-testing kits to see if bladder cancer can be
spotted before it becomes symptomatic. The
study, which will involve urine self-testing kits
being sent out to 3,000 men aged between
65 and 80 in the Yorkshire region, could save
lives by providing people with access to a
simple diagnostic test they can complete
in the comfort of their own homes. Another
research project has led to the development
of high quality patient information booklets
for bladder cancer.
20
Professor James Catto (far right) with Chief Executive Kirsten Major at the launch of
the second Da Vinci X robot in 2019 following a record £1.3m Sheffield Hospitals Charity
donation from businessman Dave Allen
Advancing bladder cancer care through
the study of biochemical structures and
molecular processes within cells, including
DNA replication, has been another key focus,
and he is currently chief investigator of a trial
comparing standard care with personalised
treatments targeting specific gene variants
in patients having radical bladder cancer
surgery.
Professor Catto also works to improve care
from the patient’s perspective. He is a
trustee of Weston Park Cancer Charity and
Fight Bladder Cancer UK, and runs a series
of regional patient experience surveys. His
leadership as Editor-in-Chief at the EAU has
been widely praised.
THE OPERATING THEATRE JOURNAL
Professor James Catto, Consultant Urological
Surgeon at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust and Professor of Urological
Surgery at the University of Sheffield, said:
“This award was a great honour. It reflects
work produced by the whole team in Sheffield
and the European Urology journal. I hope
this is the start of many more exciting years
of progress. I would like to thank all those
who have helped, not least my wife Kirsteen,
who has always supported me and worked far
harder running our family.”
The EAU is one of the world’s largest urological
associations, and has been at the forefront of
scientific and educational innovation for the
past 50 years.
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