Run Wang, who works at MD Anderson Cancer Center, will be the first UT professor to serve as president of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America, an organization informing researchers on sexual health dysfunctions.

SMSNA recently elected Wang, who previously served as its treasurer, to serve a two-year term as president.

Wang is the Cecil M. Crigler, M.D. Chair in Urology at the McGovern Medical School at the UT Health Science Center in Houston and the director of sexual medicine in the Department of Urology at the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. 

SMSNA was founded in 1994 and works to overcome the stigma against sexual health dysfunction by providing revolutionary care to its patients through research and new techniques. 

“SMSNA is the most influential society in the world and I was fortunately elected as the President, a position that only the best urologist specialized in sexual medicine in the North America can obtain,” Wang wrote in an email. “Our society is very keen to international exchanging program and I strongly believe we will have very close relation with our colleagues around the world to advance global sexual medicine in the years to come.”

Wang emphasized the importance of students practicing safe sex because STDs are the leading sexual medicine problem. Additionally, he encouraged students to seek professional help if they think they may have a sexual dysfunction.

“I think that for the young people it’s very important for them to understand that [stigma exists] because many people that have sexual dysfunctions feel ashamed, and they don’t feel like they are men,” Wang said. “Even for the girls, they have sexual dysfunction and feel like they are not attractive. It’s very important for them to understand that this is not uncommon.”