The Road to the Sushil Lacy Finals: My Journey as a Urology Research Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine

Ultimo aggiornamento: Agosto 17, 2026

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Every profound journey in medicine begins with a moment of terrifying uncertainty. For me, that moment came when I decided to temporarily pack away my clinical routine as a practising urologist in Thailand, step away from the familiar corridors of Bangkok Hospital Headquarters, and cross the Pacific toward Houston, Texas. My destination was the Texas Medical Center and, specifically, the Scott Department of Urology at Baylor College of Medicine. My goal was singular, ambitious, and slightly audacious: to learn from a leading figure in sexual medicine, Professore Mohit Khera.

This is the story of how that leap of faith led to my selection as a Sushil Lacy Finalist — one of the highest research honours the South Central Section of the AUA gives a trainee’s work. I share it not to boast, but because the lessons along the way may help other doctors, researchers, and anyone chasing a goal that feels impossibly far away.

The Leap of Faith Across the Oceans

To understand why this was such a shift, you have to understand where I came from. I completed my urology residency at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok, where my exposure to systematic academic research was modest. I had published a paper validating Thai-language versions of two urological questionnaires, which to my surprise went on to be cited many times — but translating a questionnaire within a familiar framework is a world apart from the data-driven universe of American academic urology.

To observe a clinical department like Dr. Khera’s and work inside an American institution, an international physician needs a J-1 visa as a designated Research Scholar. In other words, to gain the clinical insights I was seeking, I first had to wear an entirely different hat: that of a dedicated academic researcher. On 6 October 2025 I officially stepped onto the Baylor campus — eager, driven, and completely unaware of the learning curve ahead.

Meeting a Global Titan

For years, Dr. Mohit Khera was a name I encountered only in medical literature, textbook chapters, and international guidelines — an authority in male sexual dysfunction, testosterone deficiency, and prosthetic urology. When you prepare to meet someone of that stature, you brace for a strict, unapproachable figure whose time is measured in seconds.

Meeting him shattered every preconception. Instead of an aloof academic, I was greeted by a humble, down-to-earth man who radiated warmth and genuine encouragement. Watching a world-renowned authority carry himself with such humility was an immediate revelation. I remember thinking: this is my ideal role model. He showed me that leadership in medicine isn’t defined by ego, but by an approachable nature and a real commitment to nurturing the next generation — regardless of where they trained.

The Invisible Hurdles: A Labyrinth of Compliance

Many aspiring research scholars imagine that the day they arrive is the day they begin unlocking clinical insights. In reality, the first two weeks were a battle against software modules, compliance certifications, and training pathways. Before I could draft a single hypothesis, I had to become a full-time student of institutional compliance and electronic health records.

For ten gruelling days I sat before my screen from morning until late at night, completing patient-privacy and research-ethics training, safety courses, and — the ultimate gatekeeper — Epic electronic health record training. For any researcher trying to extract real-world evidence from an American healthcare system, proficiency in Epic is essential. By mid-October my mind was saturated with acronyms and interface maps. I had passed every exam, yet I felt utterly exhausted — and I still had no idea how to formulate an original American research question.

It is worth being clear that this part is not bureaucratic decoration. Every study I went on to do used the records of real patients who never met me, and the training exists because that access has to be earned and audited. The projects described below were conducted under institutional review board approval, on de-identified data, and no individual patient can be recognised in anything I present.

Welcome to America: The Blank Slate

The shift from a clinical to a research mindset comes with its own peculiar form of imposter syndrome. In Thailand, my days were structured around patient rounds, surgical steps, and post-operative care — a path lit by the immediate physical needs of the patient. In research, you instead stare into a blank abyss of raw numbers, hunting for patterns nobody has noticed.

A week in, over lunch with the American sexual medicine fellows — brilliant, fast-talking trainees who navigated it all with native ease — the weight of my perceived inadequacy caught up with me. Completely exposed, I admitted: I am very blank right now, I know almost nothing about research, what should I do? There was a pause, then they burst out laughing. One smiled and said, congratulations, welcome to America. Beneath the humour lay a truth: almost everyone entering this environment from a purely clinical background starts from scratch. You drop your ego at the door, accept what you don’t know, and build from the floor up.

The First Crushing Defeat

Realising time was my scarcest resource, I drew on my real clinical frustrations back home — in particular, how challenging it is to manage young patients with severe erectile dysfunction, where standard algorithms often fall short. When I presented this to Dr. Khera, his eyes lit up: that’s a really good research question, and you should work on it quickly, because the AUA abstract deadline is in a matter of days.

The American Urological Association Annual Meeting is the most competitive urological venue in the world, receiving thousands of abstracts from elite institutions each year. I had just learned how to log into the system — and now I had less than a week to execute an entire study from scratch. For four days I worked from morning until midnight, teaching myself to run statistical analyses on free, open-source software with real limitations. Against the odds, I submitted before the deadline. When the confirmation flashed, I felt invincible.

That feeling lasted until February, when the polite but devastating rejection email arrived. For several days a dark cloud hung over me. As the disappointment cleared, I made myself reframe it, borrowing the tech-industry adage: fail fast. Failing early was far better than failing late — and I still had nine months. I audited my own work: where were the statistical pitfalls, and what had I failed to control for? The honest answer was that a rushed four-day analysis deserved to be rejected, and the reviewers had done their job. I upgraded to proper statistical software and resolved to start again with the care the question deserved.

The Renaissance: The Octogenarian Project

When Dr. Khera learned of the rejection, he showed no disappointment. True to his role-model status, he used it to spark a more original line of inquiry: Dr. Pom, I have never seen a paper on erectile dysfunction in octogenarians — why don’t you start a project on this? My response was instant: absolutely yes.

Men in their eighties are dramatically underrepresented in sexual medicine research, largely because of an outdated assumption that sexual health stops mattering in the ninth decade of life. That bias had left a real gap in the literature. I went into the registries and, for an entire month, lived and breathed this data — cleaning datasets, building comparative models, and analysing the intersections of cardiovascular health, hormones, and multiple-medication use. To use the time efficiently, I ran a parallel sister project at the opposite end of the age spectrum: erectile dysfunction in men under 40. That let me contrast early-onset sexual dysfunction against the geriatric profile. When I presented the finished octogenarian abstract, Dr. Khera scanned the data and said: this paper is going to be very popular. Congratulations.

Both are retrospective cohort studies drawn from a single tertiary centre. That design can show what happened and to whom, and it can point at associations worth pursuing — but it cannot establish cause, and a single centre’s patients are not the world’s. I say so here because it is exactly the kind of caveat that gets lost between a podium and a headline.

The Double Acceptance

The wait for a review committee’s decision is an exercise in managed anxiety. Then, on a Friday afternoon in May 2026, the email arrived: your submission has been accepted for a podium presentation. Not only was the octogenarian project accepted for the South Central Section AUA meeting in Tucson, Arizona — so was the under-40 project. Both were selected for podium presentations rather than poster sessions. A podium slot means the committee judged the work significant enough to be delivered as an oral presentation before the assembly, followed by live questions from the floor. After the long nights, the sting of rejection, and the language and cultural barriers, that double acceptance was hard to describe.

The Summit: A Sushil Lacy Finalist

As unexpected as the double podium was, the real surprise came with the award notifications. My paper on erectile dysfunction in octogenarians was selected as a Sushil Lacy Finalist — the highest honour the section gives a trainee’s manuscript.

To appreciate what that means, you have to know the man it honours. Dr. Sushil S. Lacy (1936–2023) was a significant figure in American urology. Born in Patna, India, he graduated from Christian Medical College in Vellore and completed a general surgery residency at King George’s Medical College in Lucknow. He came to the United States in 1963 for a vascular surgery fellowship at Duke University Medical Center, then trained in urology at Baptist Hospital, Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. In 1970 he joined the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where he helped establish the first urology residency programme in the state. He served as President of the Nebraska Urological Association, President of the South Central Section, and in 2011 as President of the American Urological Association, and he received the AUA Presidential Citation in 2019 for his mentorship of young urologists. After his death, the South Central Section preserved his legacy through the Sushil Lacy Manuscript Competition. (You can read about its history and past winners on the South Central Section AUA award page.)

The selection is stringent: the committee pre-selects six finalists from the submissions across the entire region, and I was named one of the six. Final placement is judged on two elements — the scientific merit of the written manuscript, and the clarity of the live podium presentation. To help me prepare, the committee paired me with a mentor, Dr. Joshua Broghammer, an academic urologist known for complex reconstructive surgery, who is guiding me as I refine my delivery and sharpen my statistical defences. My name and both presentations are listed in the official programme of the 105th Annual Meeting — you can verify the listing on the official SCS AUA programme schedule.

Three Lessons for Future Research Scholars

If you had told me — back when I was struggling through fire-safety and Epic training modules — that I would become one of six Sushil Lacy finalists, I would have called it an impossible dream. For any international medical graduate considering a similar path, three things:

• Embrace the fail-fast mentality. Rejection is a structural part of academic medicine. My first rejection wasn’t a verdict on my worth — it was a diagnostic test revealing weaknesses in my methodology. Treat failure as a data point, upgrade your tools, refine your question, and pivot immediately.
• Clinical frustrations are research questions. The best questions don’t come from textbooks — they come from the real difficulties of caring for patients. Both my projects were born from difficult cases I managed in Bangkok. When you find a patient group that the guidelines seem to skip over — whether under 40 or over 80 — you have found your niche.
• Seek out people who value humility. Your mentor shapes your trajectory. When you find one who encourages you into the spotlight, hands you a new project when you are down, and celebrates your success as their own, protect that relationship.

The road to the Sushil Lacy finals has been paved with cultural shifts, intense training, late nights, and support from both Bangkok Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. In September 2026, at the 105th Annual Meeting in Tucson, I will step onto that podium to represent Thailand and my host institution in Houston. You can explore more of my academic work on my research page. The journey continues.

For patients rather than colleagues: if you would like to discuss disfunzione erettile, testosterone, or men’s health, Dr. Soarawee Weerasopone consults at Ospedale Bangokok Sede Centrale and at Samitivej Sriracha Hospital, Chonburi — 088-022-1445. Bangkok Hospital Telemedicine is available for patients who cannot attend in person, including international patients — arrange it in advance by email to the Urology department at bhquro@bdms.co.th. Samitivej Sriracha is in-person only.

Domande frequenti

What is a urology Research Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine?

A Research Scholar is an international or visiting physician who joins an academic institution such as Baylor College of Medicine — typically on a J-1 visa — to conduct clinical research and observe specialists at work. In my case it means working within the Scott Department of Urology under Professor Mohit Khera, combining data-driven research in sexual medicine with clinical observation, after completing extensive compliance and electronic health record training. It is not a US clinical fellowship and carries no licence to practise medicine in the United States.

What is the Sushil Lacy competition?

The Sushil Lacy Manuscript Competition is a research award of the South Central Section of the American Urological Association, named after Dr. Sushil S. Lacy (1936–2023), a past President of the AUA who helped establish Nebraska’s first urology residency programme at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Each year the committee selects six finalists from across the region, judged on both the scientific merit of the manuscript and the quality of the live podium presentation at the annual meeting.

Why study erectile dysfunction in men over 80 or under 40?

Both age groups are underrepresented in sexual medicine research. Men in their eighties are often overlooked because of an outdated assumption that sexual health no longer matters in later life, leaving a gap in understanding their health profiles. Men under 40 with erectile dysfunction do not always fit standard diagnostic assumptions. Studying both ends of the age spectrum helps contrast early-onset and late-life sexual dysfunction and improves care for patients the guidelines tend to skip.

What kind of studies were these, and what are their limits?

Both are retrospective cohort studies using de-identified records from a single tertiary centre, conducted under institutional review board approval. That design describes what happened in a real patient population and can identify associations worth investigating, but it cannot establish cause and effect, and findings from one centre do not automatically generalise to other populations or health systems. Nothing in this work changes how any individual should be treated — that remains a conversation between a patient and their own doctor.

What does a podium presentation mean at a medical conference?

A podium presentation is a higher distinction than a standard poster session. It means the scientific committee considered the research significant enough to be delivered as an oral presentation before the full assembly, followed by live questions from experts in the audience. Having two projects accepted for podium presentations at the same meeting is a notable academic outcome.

What advice would you give to international medical graduates pursuing research abroad?

Embrace a fail-fast mindset — treat rejection as useful feedback rather than a verdict on your ability. Draw your research questions from the real clinical frustrations you encounter with patients, as these often reveal gaps the guidelines overlook. And choose your mentor carefully: a supportive mentor who values humility and champions your growth can transform your entire trajectory.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal professional journey and opinions of Dr. Soarawee Weerasopone, a board-certified urologist at Bangkok Hospital Headquarters. It is intended to share experience with the medical community and is not medical advice. The research described is presented for academic interest and does not constitute treatment guidance for any individual. No diagnosis, advice or prescription is provided through personal messaging channels or social media.