About Our Faculty

Gary Bellman, MD

Dr.Gary C. Bellman is the program director for the residency program. He attended medical school and received his residency training at McGill University in Montreal . He then completed a fellowship in endourology and laparoscopy at Long Island Jewish Medical Center with Dr. Arthur Smith. Dr. Bellman serves as the regional referral urologist for complex endourologic cases, and he has an interest and expertise in percutaneous renal surgery and laparoscopy. His other clinical activities include ESWL, general urology, and he is co-director of the regional Stone Clinic. He is active in both basic science and clinical research projects. Dr. Bellman also serves as the chairman for Continuing Medical Education for the Urology Department. Dr. Bellman does a high volume of laparoscopic surgery including radical prostatectomies, adrenalectomies, partial and radical nephrectomies, pyeloplasties and renal cyst excisions.

Jon Kaswick, MD

Dr. Jon Kaswick graduated form the University of California , Los Angeles School of Medicine, where he also did his general surgery and urology training and a one-year pathology fellowship. After he finished a urologic-oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center , Dr. Kaswick joined Kaiser Permanente LAMC and became the regional urologic oncology consultant for the Kaiser Permanente medical centers in Southern California . Dr. Kaswick manages a large volume and wide variety of routine and complex urologic oncology cases. His main interest is nerve-sparing cancer surgery for testicular tumors and prostate cancer. Dr. Kaswick performs various types of urinary diversion after radical cystectomy, including the Studer orthotopic continent urinary diversion. Dr. Kaswick manages a wide variety of renal tumors utililizing nephron-sparing surgery, radical nephrectomy, and extraction of IVC thrombus.

Stephen Williams, MD

After graduating from Princeton University , Dr. Williams attended Loyal University , Chicago , Stritch School of Medicine. He completed residency training in urology at the University of California , Davis then completed a urologic oncology fellowship at the University of Southern California with Donald Skinner, MD. Dr. Williams was a clinical professor of surgery at the University of California , San Diego before joining Kaiser Permanente in 2003. Dr. Williams maintains a busy oncology practice, working closely with residents. His professional interests include bladder reconstruction, testosterone-based LHRH dosing in men with prostate cancer, and the development of the prostate cancer database for Southern California Kaiser Permanente.

Charles Shapiro, MD

Dr. Charles Shapiro has been on faculty at Kaiser Permanente since completing his residency training at Stanford University in 1983. Dr. Shapiro is one of two Kaiser Permanente regional infertility consultants, responsible for the evaluation and treatment of possible male factor infertility for the Southern California region. In addition Dr. Shapiro sees general urology patients and is involved in multiple clinical projects, including evaluation of micro-hematuria, intermittent hormonal therapy for prostate cancer, and intermittent self-catheterization to manage urinary retention.

Sherif Aboseif, MD

After completing his general surgery and urology training at the University of California at San Francisco , Dr. Aboseif completed a neurourology fellowship at the University of Texas , Houston , with Dr. Edward McGuire. Dr. Aboseif was the co-director of the Neurourology Center at UCSF before joining Kaiser Permanente in 1997. He has been extensively involved in both clinical and basic science research in the fields of neurourology, urinary incontinence, and male sexual dysfunction, writing many articles and book chapters on these subjects.

Dr. Aboseif has also been involved in multiple basic science research projects in the field of neurourology, including epithelial-mesenchymal interaction in organ tissue reprogramming, growth factors in the bladder and penis, and the pathophysiology of stress urinary incontinence and bladder innervation. Research opportunities with Dr. Aboseif are abundant for urology residents.

James Murphy, MD

Dr. James Murphy is the chief of the department of urology. He did his undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame and received his medical degree in 1970 from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. After completing a rotating surgical internship at Bethesda Naval Hospital, he served for two years as a general medical officer at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland . Upon completion of his military service, Dr. Murphy came to California and worked as a full-time emergency room physician before starting his urologic career. Dr. Murphy did his general surgery and urology residency at Kaiser Permanente LAMC (1974-1978), and received his ESWL certification form the University of California , Los Angeles School of Medicine in 1987. Before returning to Kaiser Permanente in 1989, Dr. Murphy was chief of urology at Cigna Health Plan in Los Angeles. Dr. Murphy has a particular interest in ureteroscopy for stone disease.

Richard Hurwitz, MD

Dr. Richard Hurwitz is the head of Pediatric Urology at Kaiser Permanente and current president of the American Association of Pediatric Urologists. Dr. Hurwitz received his undergraduate and medical education at the University of Wisconsin , Madison . He then came to California , where he did his general surgery residency at Harbor General Hospital in Torrance and his urology residency at Kaiser Permanente LAMC (1975-1978). Dr. Hurwitz completed a pediatric urology fellowship at the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool , England with Mr. J. Herbert Johnston (1979-1980) and two sabbaticals at the Hospital for Sick Children in London with Mr. Philip Ransley (1984 and 1989). Dr. Hurwitz joined the Department of Urology in 1980. As the regional pediatric urologist, he receives many complex referrals from the other 11 Kaiser Permanente medical centers in Southern California. Dr. Hurwitz has a broad interest in all aspects of pediatric urology and a particular interest in intersex problems and cloacal exstrophy.