An interview with Michael Blute, MD

BJUI Face to Face series

Keywords: face to face, urology, BJUI
Authors: John Fitzpatrick, Michael Blute

In this edition of ‘Face to Face’, I talk with Michael Blute, MD, who is the Director of the Cancer Center of Excellence at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Memorial Health Care and the UMass Medical School in Worcester. There, he establishes clinical services across the system and advances clinical and translational research strategies. As an expert in the field of urological cancers, Dr. Blute came to UMass from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he was Chair Emeritus of their Department of Urology from 1999 to 2006. At the Mayo Clinic, he also held the Dr. Anson L. Clark Professorship in Urology and served on the Mayo Rochester Executive Board.A native of Worcester, Dr. Blute received his undergraduate degree at the Jesuit-run College of the Holy Cross. He received his medical training at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland and at the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. He joined the Mayo Clinic in 1982 as a surgical resident and remained there until his appointment at UMass in late 2009. His specialties include radical prostate surgery, urinary tract reconstruction after bladder cancer surgery and novel surgical techniques for kidney tumours. In addition, he is a strong researcher with interests in clinical trial development and translational research. I recently spoke with him at the BJU International offices during a recent visit to Dublin.