SPUUR Directors and Faculty

POTENTIAL SPUUR FACULTY MENTORS

Below is a list of potential faculty mentors; note that not all mentors are available each summer. ADDITIONAL mentors will be added for the 2026 summer SPUUR cohort.

Baker, Lauren (MS, DVM, PhD; Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, College of Letters & Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, prior UW-Madison K12 scholar). Dr. Baker has advanced training in bioinformatics from the University of Wisconsin Computation and Informatics in Biology and Medicine postdoctoral training program. Her research utilizes companion dogs as a naturally occurring model of calcium oxalate kidney stones and other complex heritable disorders. She uses a variety of bioinformatic approaches to integrate clinical data with genomics with other ‘omics data types to define clinical and molecular subtypes of disease that drive risk factors for stone development (e.g. hypercalciuria). She is also studying urinary incontinence in dogs.

Bhatia, Vinaya (MD, Assistant Professor and Director of Medical Education, Department of Urology, Division of Pediatric Urology, School of Medicine and Public Health, and current UW-Madison K12 scholar). Dr. Bhatia’s research focuses on quality of life and improving standards of care in hypospadias, pediatric congenital conditions, and neonatal circumcision.  She is currently working on developing a measure of quality of life for patients with hypospadias, to improve psychosocial and psychosexual outcomes in youth and adults who have been treated for hypospadias.

Crawford, LaTasha K. (VMD, PhD, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, prior UW-Madison K12 scholar). Dr. Crawford is an early-stage investigator and clinician scientist using a combination of genetic, molecular, behavioral, and neurophysiological techniques to explore cell-specific neural mechanisms of bladder pain caused by cystitis. She and her team use an interdisciplinary approach combined with technical expertise in neurophysiology, behavioral neuroscience, and veterinary pathology. She is also engaged in collaborative translational research projects in the fields of pain, peripheral neuropathy, and urologic disease.

Grimes, Matt (MD, Department of Urology, School of Medicine and Public Health and current UW-Madison K12 scholar). Dr. Grimes is a fellowship-trained reconstructive urologist whose clinical practice and research interest focuses on urethral stricture disease and benign prostatic hyperplasia. His translational research goal is to develop effective minimally invasive and non-surgical treatments for urethral stricture disease through improved understanding of its underlying pathogenesis. His current research is focused on defining cellular and molecular pathways of inflammation and fibrosis in a particularly severe form of urethral stricture, those related to lichen sclerosus, a poorly understood inflammatory disease of the genital skin.

Hannan, Johanna (PhD, Department of Urology, School of Medicine and Public Health). Dr. Hannan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Urology. Her work explores the vascular systems in the lower urinary tract (bladder, erectile tissue, and other pelvic structures) and how they are affected by disease, aging, and cancer treatments. Currently, Dr. Hannan and her team are investigating the long-term impact of radiation therapy on pelvic and prostate cancer survivors, as well as similar effects in women’s health.

Hernando, Diego (PhD, Departments of Radiology and Medical Physics, School of Medicine and Public Health, prior UW-Madison K12 scholar). Dr. Hernando is focused on the development and translational validation of novel imaging techniques, with a particular emphasis on transforming Magnetic Resonance Imaging into a quantitative imaging modality. His current research interests include the quantification of fat and iron deposition, as well as fibrosis.

Keil Stietz, Kimberly (PhD, Department of Comparative Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine). Dr. Keil is an Assistant Professor. She is focused on the impact and mechanisms of developmental exposures to environmental chemicals on lower urinary tract development and function. Her current research includes investigating effects of polychlorinated biphenyls on voiding function. Her research involves in vitro and in vivo mouse models to investigate bladder morphology and function.

Penniston, Kristina L. (PhD, RDN, Department of Urology, School of Medicine and Public Health; Department of Nutritional Sciences, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences). Dr. Penniston is a distinguished scientist in the Department of Urology. Additionally, she holds a position as a registered dietitian nutritionist at UW Health where she provides medical nutrition therapy to patients with urologic disorders. Her research has focused primarily on kidney stone pathophysiology, for which she developed a porcine model of calcium oxalate stone disease, and on prevention of stone recurrence with nutrition. In 2018, she was appointed by NIDDK Program Officers to the position of Director of Interactions for a multi-center academic research community known as CAIRIBU (Collaborating for the Advancement of Interdisciplinary Research in Benign Urology). In 2020, Dr. Penniston received NIDDK funding to continue this work in the form of the U24 Urology Interactions Core (DK127726), for which she is the PI, and also a competitive renewal in 2025.

Richards, Kyle A. (MD FACS, Department of Urology, School of Medicine and Public Health). Dr. Richards is focused on development of patient centered research priorities via engagement with urology patients. His current research interests include identifying strategies to improve efficiency and patient safety by eliminating waste in medicine and minimizing diagnostic errors. His active research funding includes Wisconsin Urological Society Pilot Grant; Wisconsin Urologic Research Institute Pilot Grant.

Ricke, William A. (PhD, Department of Urology, School of Medicine and Public Health). Dr. Ricke is a Professor in the Department of Urology. His research is in cellular and molecular mechanisms of lower urinary tract dysfunction. Current projects examine the role of estrogen regulation in inflammation and fibrosis, address mechanisms of castration resistance, and seek molecular mechanisms of mitochondrial dysfunction in aging. He Directs the Urologic Research, Director of the UW-Madison O’Brien center of research excellence in benign urology.

Roldán-Alzate, Alejandro (PhD, Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Radiology, prior UW-Madison K12 scholar). Dr. Roldán-Alzate is focused on fluid mechanics analysis of the lower urinary tract using MRI and computational modeling. His current research interests include the non-invasive analysis of bladder and prostate in patients with BPH/LUTS using MRI.

Vezina, Chad (PhD, Department of Comparative Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine). Dr. Vezina, now department chair of Comparative Biosciences in the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, is focused on mechanisms of lower urinary development, function, and dysfunction. His current research interests include the roles of developmental signaling pathways, epigenetics, and early life chemical exposures on prostate health and benign urinary function. He has directed prior summer research programs for undergraduates. His active research funding includes: .

Zhao, Fei (PhD, Department of Comparative Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine). Dr. Zhao studies cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying sexual differentiation of reproductive tracts using transgenic and conditional knockout mouse models, ex vivo organ culture, gene/protein expression analyses, genomic, and single-cell technologies.