Profiles
The Desnos Medal: “Protecting the legacy of urology” An interview with the fifth curator of the AUA’s William P. Didusch Center for Urologic History By Loek Keizer The EAU History Office is proud to award Prof. Michael E. Moran (US) the 2020/21 Ernest Desnos Medal for his extraordinary contributions to the field of urological history. Mike Moran is a Professor of Urology at the University of South Carolina and was curator of the American Urological Association’s William P. Didusch Center for Urologic History for ten years, recently stepping down from the position.
“Every year we receive donations from retiring or deceased colleagues. We also sometimes receive remarkable items from non-urologists. For example, we have the only existing prototype of the Wales cystoscope, which was made by surgeon general during civil war. By accepting these donations we’re doing our part to protect the legacy of American urology, and European urology too, as we own several items from the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, among others.”
private buyers. That’s always difficult.”
Over the years you’ve always contributed to the EAU’s historical publications. Will you continue writing now that your tenure as curator is finished? “Yes, I have several books in the pipeline “We have to make a concerted effort It was for his work as the Didusch Center’s curator that I now have more and his own achievements in the field that the EAU to attract new people to take an time for. A new one is honouring Prof. Moran, joining earlier winners that will soon be interest in history.” like medical historian Prof. Sergio Musitelli and the coming out: Vital Karl Storz endoscope company. “As a curator, I would of course maintain items, and Signs: History and manage the collection. After more than a century, it’s Physical, on the history Can you tell us about your work as curator? quite a large collection of instruments and books. The of the physical exam “The AUA, just like the EAU and other medical whole AUA headquarters has display cases. It’s great and how it’s changed. societies, has always had a historical collection of Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Prof. Michael E. Moran has already received the EAU Ernest to keep history palpable. People can come visit and I’ve also nearly artifacts. From its foundation in 1902, there were Desnos Medal indeed we’ve had high schools or college students finished a “History of urologists collecting. In 1909, they organised a come by to learn about medical history or do an Genius” and the literal museum at the AUA headquarters in internship on curating.” impact on medical history. I’m working on a book Baltimore. Bill Didusch was the first curator, and “The manhours required for inputting data and on the history of international urology meetings, the museum was subsequently named after him.” “My immediate predecessor Reiner Engel had close maintaining the site are a large cost. Industry funding from when they first started in the early twentieth ties with Europe because of his German background. is also controlled more strictly than it used to be. With century. I’m also working on a comprehensive, One of my goals when I took over, was affiliating with the worldwide pandemic, museums are really taking updated history of urology (two volumes) that I “It’s great to keep history more international societies, hoping that they would it on the chin. At the moment the curator position is think our field is long overdue.” palpable.” start museums of their own. Finances are always the vacant, apart from when a themed exhibition is held limiting factor, running a museum can get expensive!” at the AUA’s annual congress.” What are your thoughts on winning the EAU’s “The AUA was always loosely affiliated with Johns Ernest Desnos Medal? Hopkins, from its earliest days. Artifacts were being What kind of developments did you see over the “I’m overwhelmed to win this prize! The first book “I never expected to win a prize accumulated by Hugh Hampton Young himself. We course of your ten-year tenure? I bought as a urology resident was the Desnosnamed after Desnos.” have a lot of early stuff from that time. Throughout “Since I started, we’ve seen more emphasis on Murphy book History of Urology. Anything affiliated the 1920s and 30s the collection grew as people information technology to manage and share our with that name, it’s overwhelming to me. I never started donating their own collections. We have collection, of course. We also have to make a concerted “The collection is going to continue to grow from expected to win a prize named after Desnos. The early transurethral instruments, early batteries and effort to attract new people to take an interest in donations and acquisitions. But unfortunately we do people who won before me, they’re titans in the the first incandescent cystoscope bulbs. We also history. We set up a prize, the Retrospectoscope Award miss out on occasion, when collections are being sold field. I can think of so many people deserving of have more general items like early microscopes.” piecemeal, and we simply cannot compete with to encourage historical research.” this recognition, over me.” T:270 mm S:263.65 mm
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June/July 2021
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EUT Congress News
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T:194.3 mm
S:187.95 mm
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