The National Institutes of Health recently awarded UW-Madison with an $8.3 million grant to fund a research center to study urological health, according to a university news release.
The lab will focus on what leads to changes in prostate tissue while studying lower urinary tract dysfunction and benign prostatic hyperplasia, which is a non-cancerous disease that causes the enlargement of the prostate.
BPH affects about half of men aged 51-60 and 90 percent of men are projected to develop the disease by age 80, according to the release.
The UW-Madison George O’Brien Center is working with the University of Massachusetts Boston to improve the diagnosis and treatment for male urinary symptoms associated with BPH.
The center, led by Dale E. Bjorling and William A. Ricke, is one of only three in the nation to study benign urological diseases, according to the release.
“The putative benefit of this research may significantly improve the overall quality of life of men with the disease,” Stephen Nakada, chair of the Department of Urology at UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, said in the release.
