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promising. So, it was a really big, big honor for me, really a personal one. As far as the mentor award is concerned, the Ralph Clayman award, I received it in 2010, so 20 years after, in 2020. I was, of course, very honored about this. But for me, it was more because of my fellows. You know, I teach a lot of fellows, some from Greece. You probably know Dr. Achilleas Ploumidis, he was one of my fellows, a very excellent one. So, I would say that this mentorship award, was mainly due to my fellows, because at the end, you know, the fellows are doing the job, you just show them the way. But they do the job. So, for me, it was, of course, a personal award, but it was also something to recognize all my fellows.
T.S.: You are the director of the GRC#20 (Clinical Research Group #20). What does research mean to you? How do you feel when you go to the lab?
Professor Olivier Traxer: You know, again, it comes from my fellowship. When I did my fellowship, 25 years ago, I realized the American system in terms of research. And they also had this Clinical Research Center. They call it the GCRC, and it gave me the idea that I had to do something very similar to evaluate, scientifically, the equipment of Endourology. So again, it comes from this time during my fellowship, and for me, it was an obligation to design a lab. So, when I
returned, I made some contacts in the University, mainly with engineers dealing with laser technology. They were not in the medical field but in the space industry and business. And together we designed this lab, which of course, became bigger and bigger, with again, my fellows, who are my assistants for developing this lab, I think it's essential to do that. You cannot just trust what you are doing in the clinical life and the operating territory. You also need to evaluate what you are doing scientifically. This doesn't mean that everything that you demonstrate in the lab must be translated into picking the conclusions and making some recommendations for clinical applications, but it helps a lot to understand what you are doing.
F.N.: How important is it for residents and young urologists to be actively engaged with research, lab work and medical writing?
Professor Olivier Traxer: I think it's essential! You know, it's not an obligation for all of us to be academic and to be a researcher, to make a lot of publications, but I think for all of us, it's very important to understand how it works, because when you read papers if you have some experience about publication and research, you better understand the way of what you are reading. So I think it's very important to have this experience just to understand how it works.
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