Prof. Dr. Mevlana Derya Balbay is Professor of Urology at the Koç University Medical School and the VKFAmerican Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. He graduated in 1985 and completed his Urology residency in 1992, both at Hacettepe University Medical School. He visited Mayo Clinic in 1994 and did clinical fellowship in Uro-oncology at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center between 1996–1999. In addition to general urology, the majority of his surgical volume consists of cancer surgeries and endourology. He started robotic surgery in 2009 and has performed and mentored over 1000 robotic cases, including radical prostatectomy, radical cystectomy and intracorporeal continent neobladder reconstruction, partial and radical nephrectomies, nephroureterectomies, and retroperitoneal lymph node dissections. He particularly developed his own technique on intracorporeal Studer pouch formation following robotic radical cystectomy for bladder cancer (Endourol. 2020 Mar;34(3):273-280).
Prof. Balbay has published a total of 211 publications in international and 40 articles in national journals. As of July 2021, his H-index is 30. He has presented 110 and 105 abstracts at internatioanl and national congresses, respectively, in addition to chairing, moderateding, and lecturing at national and international congresses. He has served as executive board member of the Turkish Urological Association and the Eurasian Association of Urooncology. Currently an active member of International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium (IRCC) and International Prostate Forum (IPF). He has been involved in many European Association of Urology (EAU) Robotic Urology Section (ERUS) and International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium (IRCC) joint publications in robotic radical cystectomy.
Prof. Balbay has been the recipient of numerous honours and awards, including the recently awarded David A. Swanson M.D. Endowed Lecture Series Urology Distinguished Alumnus Award, at the14th Update on the Management of Genitourinary Malignancies Conference, in Houston (2019). He serves as section editor in the Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences and Turkish Journal of Urology. He is a member of several association, including Société International d’Urologie (SIU), American Urological Association (AUA), EAU, Turkish Urological Association, and Eurasian Association of Urology.
During his career, Prof. Balbay has trained many urology residents, urologists, and fellows in the field of urology, urologic oncology, and robotic urology. He is hard-working and has always been very supportive and collaborative with his colleagues and with national and international urologists and researchers.