Advances

Advances gives a glimpse of the many significant research projects at the university. Tell us about your discoveries. E-mail: wisweek@news.wisc.edu.

New prostate surgery preserves sexual function
When a man is diagnosed with localized prostate cancer, he typically faces “good” news and “bad” news. While removal of the prostate cures most men of the cancer, it often leaves them impotent.

David Jarrard, an associate professor of urology and head of the UW Comprehensive Cancer Center’s urologic oncology group, has more good news: a new surgical technique that can restore sexual function.

Jarrard is one of a handful of urologists nationwide who performs a state-of-the-art prostate cancer surgery known as sural nerve grafting. The technique involves removing a nerve segment from the man’s ankle and sewing it into the groin, where the nerve replaces the one that is often removed along with the cancerous prostate.

Preliminary results with patients, says Jarrard, are promising. Of his nine patients who have had sural nerve grafting, five are at least a year beyond surgery, and all of them are able to have unassisted or partial erections.

“The men we have operated on,” says Jarrard, “are very pleased.”

New 80-bed children’s hospital to be constructed
Plans were announced last week to construct a new $55 million, 80-bed UW Children’s Hospital. The project is supported in part by a $10 million gift from American Family Insurance. The six-story, 135,000-square-foot facility is slated for groundbreaking in late fall 2004 and completion in early 2007. It will be connected to the west side of UW Hospital and Clinics and will be named the American Family Children’s Hospital.

Aaron Friedman, medical director of UW Children’s Hospital, says the need for a new children’s hospital in south-central Wisconsin cannot be overstated. While he says the quality of staff ? physicians, specialists, nurses and others ? is well regarded by patients and families, he says the current physical facility is inadequate by today’s standards.

Results from student survey to help administrators
A pilot Web survey of 1,500 UW–Madison students shows that students take more interest in certain campus life topics and prefer receiving information about them electronically.

The Polling University Life and the Student Experience survey, sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs, will help administrators improve communication with students.

Among a list of issues that students frequently deal with, graduation requirements were rated as most important, followed by other topics such as career development, computers and technology resources, advising and coursework. Issues such as university rules and regulations, illness and accident prevention, and mental health were given lower marks.

Web sites and e-mail eclipsed other sources as preferred methods for university communication on many of the topics.

The survey found that students turn to other students for news and information on extra-curricular activities; prefer to learn about graduation requirements, advising, and career and coursework assistance from professors and teaching assistants; and rate advising as an important topic and an area in which the university could improve communication.

More survey information and data are available at http://www.doit.wisc.edu/about/research/2002/pulse.asp.