By Lori Sundeen Soderbergh

Dr. Nabeel Shakir has always been curious about how things work. This quality, combined with an ability to work well with people, led to his recognition as recipient of the 2015 John D. McConnell Award for Excellence in Urology.

Dr. Nabeel Shakir

“Dr. Shakir exemplifies the true spirit of the McConnell Award. He has excelled in his research efforts both here and at the National Institute of Health, and was equally outstanding during his clinical time,” said Dr. Gary Lemack, Professor of Urology, Neurology and Neurotherapeutics. “We have no doubt that Dr. Shakir is destined to be an academic leader in urology, and we feel fortunate to have matched him here at UT Southwestern.”

The McConnell Award honors the clinician whom many in the department credit for the continued success of Urology at UT Southwestern. Dr. McConnell, now Chief Executive Officer at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, was the third leader of what was then a division at UT Southwestern. He oversaw the elevation of Urology to department status, greatly improved the grant support for basic urological research, and grew both the clinical and basic science research faculty through a nationwide recruiting effort.

Dr. Shakir was born and raised in Oklahoma City, where his parents encouraged his curiosity through numerous hobbies, including cycling, hiking, backpacking, and cooking. While studying chemical engineering at the University of Oklahoma, he received the Philips Petroleum Award for Outstanding Research for work at OU’s Department of Engineering and the Department of Urology.

“Oddly, this was before I was seriously interested in urology. I was working on the engineering side. I was struck by how enthusiastic and inquisitive the urology residents were,” Dr. Shakir said.

His keen interest led him to accompany the residents on their urology rounds, where he was soon hooked on the field, both in clinical practice and in research.

“I am deeply grateful to the entire faculty in the Department of Urology at UT Southwestern. Our Chairman, Dr. Claus Roehrborn, is the model of an ideal leader,” Dr. Shakir said. “Dr. Jeffrey Cadeddu, Professor of Urology, Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, taught me a great deal about innovation and engineering in the context of urologic surgery.”

Dr. Shakir is equally grateful for the opportunity he had to focus on image-guided diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer under the leadership of Dr. Peter Pinto, Director of the Urologic Oncology Fellowship Program and faculty member in the Urologic Oncology Branch of the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

At UT Southwestern, Dr. Shakir was a co-founder of Scope, a literary magazine that is still going strong four years later. His medical school honors include Alpha Omega Alpha; NIH-Medical Research Scholars Program Fellowship, 2013-2014; and Outstanding Poster, 2014 American Urological Association Meeting. It was during this event that he had a memorable experience that helped cement his appreciation for the field of medicine.

“During the national AUA meeting, I witnessed a man go into cardiac arrest as I was preparing to give a research presentation. Together with bystanders and paramedics, I initiated and led CPR and defibrillation for the next 15 minutes, and we successfully resuscitated him. It was a memorable team effort that changed my life.”

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• Dr. Cadeddu holds the Ralph C. Smith, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Minimally Invasive Urologic Surgery.
• Dr. Lemack holds the Rose Mary Haggar Professorship in Urology.
• Dr. Roehrborn holds the E.E. Fogelson and Greer Garson Fogelson Distinguished Chair in Urology, and the S.T. Harris Family Chair in Medical Science, in Honor of John D. McConnell, M.D.