Michael S. Cookson, MD, MMHC, FACS

Michael S. Cookson, MD, MMHC, FACS, is professor and chairman of the Department of Urology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and he holds the Donald D. Albers, M.D. Endowed Chair in Urology. 

Dr Cookson is nationally recognized for his outstanding contributions to urologic oncology. An accomplished researcher and lecturer, he is the author of 253 peer-reviewed journal publications and 34 chapters of various textbooks. He has also served as editor of 2 books in urology and urologic surgery and is the co–editor in chief of the Urology Times. He is the 2019 to 2021 president of the Society of Urologic Oncology and the 2020 to 2021 president of the South Central Section of the American Urological Association (AUA).

He has devoted a significant portion of his academic career to the treatment of patients with urologic cancers, with a strong emphasis on clinical guidelines, education, and evidenced-based medicine. He is a cofounder of the Oncology Knowledge Assessment Test (OKAT), a Society of Urologic Oncology–mandated oncology examination that is the standard for benchmarking for members and oncology fellows in training. Dr Cookson served as chair of that OKAT committee for 5 years. In 2018, he received an AUA Presidential Citation for outstanding service for his role in the development of the OKAT and as chair of the Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer AUA guideline from the AUA 2018 Annual Meeting.