Scholarship is proposed in Dr. Segura's name

Baltimore-A new endourology/stone disease scholarship has been proposed in honor of the late Joseph W. Segura, MD.

Dr. Segura, a pioneer in the field of endourology and a mentor to many urologists, died of mesothelioma in May. He was 66.

Urologists who feel that their career was significantly impacted by Dr. Segura are being invited to become members of a select group by contributing to the "Friends of Joe Fund." Contributions needed to create this named fellowship are requested, beginning at the $5,000 level.

"Our goal is 100 members, so we can fulfill the minimum funding necessary to establish a scholarship in Joe's honor," according to a letter distributed to Endourology Society members and signed by Dr. Preminger and Ralph V. Clayman, MD, professor and chair of the department of urology at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center.

"This contribution is a small price to pay for the privilege of having known him and perpetuating his memory," Dr. Clayman said.

The AUA Foundation, along with the Endourology Society, are promoting this important educational opportunity.

"Currently, over 25 individuals have joined the Friends of Joe Fund through their generous contributions," Dr. Preminger said in early September. "We very much need another 75 individuals to come forward in order to make this ongoing remembrance a reality."

Checks in the full amount or pledges for $5,000, to be completed over a 3- to 5-year period, are equally welcome, Dr. Clayman said. A dinner to celebrate the funding of the scholarship will be held in early December in Washington, DC, in conjunction with the AUA-sponsored Segura Urolithiasis and Endourology Update course.

"Honoring Joe's memory by joining this select group of individuals who support endourology and stone disease research is especially poignant in light of the annual AUA Calculi Update meeting, a course that Dr. Segura directed for over 20 years," said Dr. Preminger.

Donations should be made to the American Urological Association Foundation and sent to Dr. Preminger c/o Chair of the Office of Education/ American Urological Association Foundation/ P.O. Box 791080/ Baltimore, MD 21298-8388.