Meeting the Editorial Board Member of AMJ: Dr. Michael J. Whalen

Posted On 2025-01-02 15:21:04


Michael J. Whalen1, Jin Ye Yeo2

1George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Science, George Washington University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA; 2AMJ Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company

Correspondence to: Jin Ye Yeo. AMJ Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company. Email: amj@amegroups.com

This interview can be cited as: Whalen MJ, Yeo JY. Meeting the Editorial Board Member of AMJ: Dr. Michael J. Whalen. AME Med J. 2025. Available from: https://amj.amegroups.org/post/view/meeting-the-editorial-board-member-of-amj-dr-michael-j-whalen.


Expert introduction

Dr. Michael J. Whalen (Figure 1) is an Associate Professor of Urology at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Science, Director of Urologic Oncology at George Washington University Hospital, and Vice-Chair of the Department of Urology. In addition to the Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO), he is a member of the American Urological Association (AUA) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Dr. Whalen’s specialty focus involves the treatment of urological cancers, with expertise in major open, minimally invasive, and robotic surgery. Dr. Whalen is actively involved in several IRB-approved clinical outcomes research projects focusing on cancer of the prostate, bladder, and kidneys. He has published over three dozen original research articles in peer-reviewed journals harnessing both IRB-approved institutional databases, as well as national datasets such as the NCDB and NSQIP. His current research interests include prostate mpMRI and phyto-nutritional strategies for prostate cancer prevention and mitigation of disease progression for patients on active surveillance. Dr. Whalen also serves as Principal Investigator for several ongoing national, multi-institutional cooperative group clinical trials through SWOG, ECOG-ACRIN, and NRG.

Dr. Whalen is also passionately involved in medical student education at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, serving as faculty mentor for the Clinical Apprenticeship Program, Urology resident Research mentor, Urology Interest Group faculty mentor, and research PI as part of the Gill Summer Research Fellowship program (2018-present) and the Jean L. Fourcroy Research Award program (2019-present). He was voted Teacher of the Year by the Urology residents in June 2019 and recently was awarded the Commission on Cancer, Cancer Liaison Program Outstanding Performance Award (9/2021) for his role as the Cancer Liaison Physician for GW Hospital.

Figure 1 Dr. Michael J. Whalen


Interview

AMJ: What first drew you to specialize in urologic oncology, and subsequently specialize in robotic and minimally urologic approaches?

Dr. Whalen: Three of the six most common cancers in men are Urologic: prostate, bladder, and kidney. So the field of Urologic Oncology is poised for a large impact on the population. This is not only in the domain of treatment with medicine or surgery, but also in the domains of screening and prevention, which then intersect with recommendations for generalized well-being and longevity, such as the recent emphasis that has been placed on a mammal-free, plant-forward diet. Also, not only are we able to cure patients’ cancers, but also to use our skills to maintain high quality of life after treatment. I began training early in the robotic surgery era, so I bore witness firsthand to the early days of this technology. The prospect of learning and mastering this technology was very exciting to me.

AMJ: You have been involved in several multi-institutional clinical trials. What do you find most exciting about these collaborative efforts? How do these collaborations help advance the treatment landscape for urologic cancers?

Dr. Whalen: Clinical trials allow us to contribute to the ongoing dialogue centered around gaps in knowledge in the field. They allow investigators to apply rigorous methods to answering fundamental questions about the way we practice, and to help advance standards of care as we seek to maximize benefits and minimize harms of existing treatments. Being able to partner with investigators at other institutions and achieve more than the sum of our parts is very gratifying and showcases the power of teamwork on a national level. Also, I have worked to champion clinical trial enrollment for underserved populations who are often under-represented in trials, despite the differentially harder impact of cancers on these populations. For example, Black men have been shown to have a higher incidence of aggressiveness and even death from prostate cancer, but most trials, even high-profile ones, enroll less than 10% of Black patients. We have worked hard at George Washington Hospital to change that.

AMJ: Your current research focuses on several critical areas, such as the use of multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) in the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. What role do you see for mpMRI in prostate cancer, and how is it changing the way we approach diagnosis and treatment?

Dr. Whalen: mpMRI has revolutionized the screening and diagnosis of prostate cancer. It has come a long way as well, with early detractors referring to it as “magnetic resonance imagination!” as Peter Pinto, a prominent Urologic Oncologist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), used to say. Now, several well-run trials have proven that mpMRI improves the detection of clinically significant prostate cancer. It basically makes our diagnostic pathway more accurate and often saves men the need for prostate biopsy when they have an elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. In my opinion, elevated PSA is now a “radiographic diagnosis,” meaning the reflex next step should be to obtain a prostate mpMRI, as well as other blood- or urine-based biomarker studies, after thorough patient counseling. In Europe, investigators are looking at using biparametric MRI for prostate cancer screening in parallel and/or in lieu of serum PSA testing. It will be interesting to see the outcome of these efforts, not only from the cancer detection perspective but also from the healthcare expenditures/financial perspective, to ensure a cost-effective and sustainable approach to prostate cancer screening. Prostate MRI has also been used for biochemical recurrence after prior radiotherapy and radical prostatectomy surgery, and how this imaging modality competes with or complements other imaging tools such as prostate-specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography (PSMA PET) scans is currently being investigated.

AMJ: You are also exploring phyto-nutritional strategies to mitigate disease progression in patients on active surveillance for prostate cancer. Could you elaborate on the importance of diet and nutrition in prostate cancer management? What are some significant findings that have emerged from your research so far?

Dr. Whalen: There has been much work done on various nutritional compounds for prostate cancer prevention, “treatment” to prevent disease progression, and even to decelerate rising PSA in the setting of biochemical recurrence after prior treatment. There have been many cell line studies and mouse-model studies, but translation to larger populations of people is often fraught with methodological limitations that impede definitive conclusions, such as reliance on food frequency questionnaires that are subject to reporter and recall bias. However, more and more is being understood, and many investigators have turned their attention to diet changes as a fundamental component of both the prevention and treatment pathways. Specifically, the Mediterranean diet has been lauded as beneficial for prostate cancer prevention as well as optimizing cardiovascular health and reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. There has even been work reporting that the Mediterranean diet can reduce side effects from traditional prostate cancer treatments such as radical prostatectomy surgery and radiation. So, the benefits of the diet extend to many domains. The World Health Organization has implicated processed meat and red meat as carcinogens, so avoiding these foods is also important. Essentially, I routinely recommend a mammal-free diet to all my patients, focusing on protein from fish, chicken, and legumes, as well as avoiding dairy and fatty/fried foods. Other foods that are recommended are soy products, green tea, flax seed, pomegranate, and red vegetables that are high in a compound called lycopene. More and more is being discovered about the benefits of this diet. The idea is not to take all the joy out of your life! But to empower you to take control of your health.

AMJ: You have been highly recognized for your teaching efforts. How do you approach medical education, and what do you find most rewarding about mentoring residents and students?
Dr. Whalen: I am very proud to have a role in the education of future doctors and surgeons. My goal is to make the residents and students that I train even more knowledgeable and technically equipped than I was at their level; to figuratively allow them to “stand on my shoulders” as they progress in their careers. Their involvement in our research projects is fundamental, and being new to the field, they are often able to think “outside the box” of dogma and develop original and innovative ideas. I revel in the opportunity to allow my trainees to take on more responsibility in the operating room and then witness them exceed my expectations. Observing them go from timid learners to trusted and confident colleagues is one of the best parts of my job.

AMJ: Looking ahead, what are some of the most pressing challenges in urologic oncology that you hope to address through your research?

Dr. Whalen: We are studying several clinical questions as part of our national cooperative group collaborations in the domains of prostate, bladder, and kidney cancer. We are investigating the role of gene expression classifiers to intensify or de-intensify treatment for intermediate-risk prostate cancer as part of the NRG-GU010 trial. Also, we are looking at the role of new intravesical agents, including gene therapy, in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

We are interested in expanding our understanding of precision medicine and applying medical evidence to update our treatment pathways to improve efficacy and reduce side effects. Other important areas of evolution in the field include the role of circulating tumor DNA in the multi-modal treatment of urologic cancers, as well as the expanding application of immunotherapy in both localized, metastatic, and recurrent settings for bladder and kidney cancer.

AMJ: As an Editorial Board Member, what are your expectations and aspirations for AMJ?

Dr. Whalen: I hope to use my clinical and academic experience to maintain the high quality of the research projects submitted for consideration to AMJ. I also hope to be able to steer the ongoing dialogue of controversies and unanswered questions in our field. I am eager to collaborate with the other Editorial Board members as we provide constructive criticism to improve the quality of the submissions. I also hope to encourage my colleagues to submit to AMJ and enhance the popularity, profile, and reputation of the journal.