Suresh C. Sikka is a full-time faculty member in urology and the Director of Urology and Andrology Clinic and Research Laboratories at Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, USA, for the past 35.5 years. He received his B.Sc. (Hons) and M.Sc. (Hons) degrees in Biochemistry from the Panjab University, Chandigarh, India, and his Ph.D. in 1977 from the Pharmacology Department at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India. He then worked as a junior research officer (JRO) in biology at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, India. In 1979, he moved to the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California, USA, as a post-doctoral fellow. In 1982, he joined the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as an assistant professor (adj) to direct the Urology and Andrology Research Labs at their Harbor-UCLA Medical Center campus in California, USA.
In December 1988, Dr. Sikkawas was offered a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Urology at Tulane University Medical Center (TUMC) in New Orleans, USA, where he was responsible for developing an andrology research program in addition to establishing a CLIA-approved andrology clinical laboratory for diagnostic purposes. For this, he passed his board certifications as High-complexity clinical lab director (HCLD) as well as a clinical consultant (CC/ABB). In 1994, he was promoted to tenured Associate Professor and later rose to the rank of full Professor of Urology at Tulane.In 1999, Dr. Sikka set up a unique state-of-the-art standardized semen analysis (SA) tech training program with quality control management, troubleshooting, and a central reader facility for sperm morphology evaluation using both strict & non-strict criteria. Over the years, this program has catered to the needs of many pharmaceutical companies for their multicenter male reproductive toxicity studies as per the FDA guidelines. Dr. Sikka has thus fartaught, trained, and certified more than 1,100 technicians across the globe for such standardized SA techniques and managed their quality control throughout these reproductive toxicity studies.These standardized SA techniques are also used for diagnostic purposes and patient care at CLIA certified lab. For the last 3-years, he has chaired the Andrology Lab Workshop during ASA annual meetings.
Dr. Sikka has also set up a standardized color Penile Duplex Doppler ultrasound (PDDU) technique for erectile dysfunction (ED) and Peyronie’s disease (PD) patients at Tulane Medical Center’s Andrology Clinic. After many such evaluations (over 6,000), he was invited to write a standardized operating procedure (SOP) document for this unique non-invasive technique that is now published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine (JSM). Besides, he has demonstrated & taught this technique at many national and international sexual medicine and andrology workshops.
Over the past 40 years, both at UCLA and at Tulane, Dr. Sikka has successfully developed andrology research programs focused in areas of male reproduction, testicular toxicity, and PD. His current research interests center around understanding the role of oxidative stress and genitourinary inflammation related to such disorders employing many advanced cellular and molecular tools, including proteomics & metabolomics. His lab has trained many students, residents& fellows and has so far published more than 220 peer-reviewed articles, many book chapters, and numerous abstracts. He recently wrote a book entitled, “Bioenvironmental Issues Affecting Male Reproductive & Sexual Health.” He has also served as a Study Section reviewer for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies and was offered guest editorship of on-line journals (e.g., IJMS and antioxidants) with a focus on the areas of male reproduction.His research & teaching presentations delivered in these areas at many national and international meetings and invitations are well acknowledged.
To view Dr. Sikka's publications, visit PubMed, and to view his detailed CV, visit his webpage.