Laurence S. Baskin

Dr. Laurence S. Baskin is a urologist who serves as chief of pediatric urology. He is an expert in genital development and reconstructive surgery. He specializes in treating the spectrum of pediatric urological conditions, including undescended testicles, blocked kidneys and ureters, prenatal urinary tract obstruction such a posterior urethra valves, adolescent varicoceles (enlarged veins in the testicles), disorders of sex development, cancers of the genital and urinary organs, and disorders that require urinary tract reconstruction. He founded the UCSF Center for the Study and Treatment of Hypospadias, to advance treatment for a developmental birth defect affecting the penile urethra (the tube through which urine is voided).

Baskin has written extensively on hypospadias and genital reconstruction, lectures extensively on these topics and has produced numerous videos on various surgical techniques. His laboratory focuses on investigating the causes of pediatric urological diseases – both those present at birth and those that develop later – to advance the prospect for cures. The lab looks specifically at how cells communicate during normal and abnormal development and at the effects of abnormal environmental exposure during pregnancy.

Baskin earned his medical degree at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, followed by a general surgery residency at UCSF. He completed a fellowship in pediatric urology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Baskin is past president of the Societies for Pediatric Urology, Society for Fetal Urology, Asia Pacific Association of Pediatric Urology, American Association of Pediatric Urologists and Society of Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgeons. He is a member of the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons, Societies of Pediatric Urology and American Urological Association (AUA), and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and American Academy of Pediatrics. He is a past member of the American Board of Urology, serving on its exam committee, and served as assistant editor of the Journal of Urology (one of AUA's official journals). He is past head of the National Institutes of Health's study section on urologic disease, the primary author on more than 300 research articles, and editor of the Handbook of Pediatric Urology and Hinman's Atlas of Pediatric Urologic Surgery.

Baskin has participated in humanitarian trips to perform pediatric urological surgery in Honduras and Vietnam. He has received numerous honors, including awards from the AUA and the European Society for Paediatric Urology.