Michael R. Abern MD

Michael Abern, MD is a board-certified urologist, Associate Professor of Urologic Oncology at Duke Cancer Institute. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of high-risk urologic cancers and approaches the field from both a clinical and an academic perspective as a surgeon and researcher.

Dr. Abern treats both men and women, focusing on cancers of the prostate, kidney, bladder, testicle, and adrenal glands as well as other rare diseases. He has a clinical interest in surgical management through open, laparoscopic, and robotic techniques. He started the multi-disciplinary tumor board for urologic cancers and MRI/Ultrasound fusion prostate biopsy program at UIC. He is the clinical leader of the genitourinary cancer program of the UIC Cancer Center, which strives to bring research projects to the Chicagoland community—and area that suffers a large burden of prostate cancer mortality.

Outside the clinic, Dr. Abern is an active investigator in urologic and oncologic research. His research program is focused on cancer detection using novel biomarkers and quantitative imaging. This work is supported by the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program. In addition, he is the primary investigator on several collaborative and industry-sponsored clinical trials through the UIC Cancer Center.