May, 1998
Memo to: Medical and Science Journalists
From: Bill Glitz; Communications Consultant; American Urological
Association
Subject: American Urological Association 1998 Annual Scientific
Meeting
Accompanying this memo is detailed information about the American
Urological Association 1998 Annual Scientific Meeting slated for
May 30-June 4 at the San Diego Convention Center. Among the
materials included with this memo are a news release providing
detailed information about the meeting, including a description
of key plenary sessions; a listing and summaries of newsworthy
abstracts scheduled to be presented; and an overview of the
program for this international scientific forum.
During the meeting, a staffed, full service press room will be
available to journalists. The press room will be located in Room
3 of the Convention Center. It will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 6
p.m. May 30-June 3 and until 12 noon on June 4. News releases
providing details on newsworthy presentations to be made during
the meeting will be available in the Press Room, as well as other
materials providing background information pertaining to the
meeting, the American Urological Association, and the specialty
of urology. The room will be equipped with work cubicles,
telephones, computers loaded with word processing software,
printers, and a fax machine. A program search service also will
be available so that journalists can search the program database
using key words.
AUA members who are experts on various aspects of urology will be
available through the press room as information resources for
journalists.
All journalists must be credentialed in the press room in order
to gain access to annual meeting presentations and all
individuals credentialed as journalists must be able to document
that they are covering the meeting for a recognized media outlet.
To help journalists cover the meeting, an opening media briefing
is scheduled for Sunday, May 31 at 12 noon in the press room.
(This briefing will be repeated on Monday, June 1 at 12 noon.)
At this opening media briefing, AUA representatives will be on
hand to discuss with journalists important and potentially
newsworthy presentations to take place during the meeting.
In addition to these two opening briefings, two other media
briefings are planned--one on prostate cancer outcomes
tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. on Monday, June 1 and another
tentatively scheduled for on Tuesday, June 2 that will review and
discuss new research data about emerging therapies for erectile
dysfunction, including the most recent information on Viagra.
(Check the bulletin board in the press room for confirmation on
these times.)
The AUA meeting is by far the largest and most important annual
forum for presenting new research findings related to the
prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of genitourinary
diseases. Attendance at the 1998 AUA meeting will be
approximately 14,000 persons, including more than 7,500
urologists, urologic researchers, and physicians from other
biomedical disciplines. More than 1,800 presentations will be
made during the five days of the gathering.
These presentations include potentially newsworthy scientific
papers providing new research findings on a meta-analysis of the
effectiveness of Viagra in treating severe erectile dysfunction;
the effectiveness and safety of oral phentolamine for treating
minimal erectile dysfunction; the results of using transurethral
alprostadil to treat erectile dysfunction in a urology practice
setting; the progression of prostate cancer in older and younger
men with similar PSA levels; the mortality from prostate cancer
in patients who were treated with "watchful waiting"; the long-
term survival following conservative management of prostate
cancer; the grade, stage, and age of prostate cancer patients in
the pre- and post-PSA period; the occupational risks for prostate
cancer; engineered neo-organs for bladder replacement; and a
simple, new catheter designed for continence and volitional
voiding past the obstructed urethra.
In addition, a variety of important plenary session presentations
will overview topics currently of interest and importance to
urologists, including a look at the doctor-patient relationship
in the 21st Century by former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett
Koop; a state-of-the-art lecture on the Genome Project by Dr.
Leroy Hood of the University of Washington Medical Center;
several sessions that will look at treating and managing bladder
cancer; a panel discussion on the diagnostic evaluation of
erectile dysfunction; a panel discussion on the quandaries of
treating and managing prostate cancer; a panel discussion on
emerging technologies in treating enlarged prostate disease; a
state-of-the-art lecture on the long-term results of
brachytherapy in treating prostate cancer; a state-of-the-art
lecture on the neobladder in the female; and a panel discussion
on the non-surgical management of stress incontinence in females.
In addition to these sessions, several urological subspecialty
organizations will be holding their meetings during the AUA
Annual Meeting. For instance, the Society for the Study of
Impotence will be meeting at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 31. AUA
members will discuss many issues related to new treatments for
erectile dysfunction during this meeting. Check the enclosed
meeting schedule for other subspecialty meetings.
If you cannot be in San Diego for the AUA annual meeting, we will
be happy to help you cover this meeting by faxing materials from
the meeting site and by arranging telephone interviews. If you
would like such assistance, you can contact me by phone at (703)
532-3797, by fax at (703) 532-0835; and by e-mail at
[email protected]. The telephone number for the press room is (619)
525-6246. It will be activated on May 30 and be discontinued at
12 noon on June 4.
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