Stress and The Brain Bladder Connection
Dr. Larissa V. Rodríguez is Chair of Department of Urology, Chief of Urology NYP and Professor of Urology and Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Director of the Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery/Urogynecology at WCM-NYP. She has a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from MIT and completed her medical training and Urology residency at Stanford University and completed her Female Urology, Voiding Dysfunction, and Reconstructive Surgery fellowship at UCLA.
Dr. Rodríguez’s clinical research focuses on outcomes of vaginal and robotic surgery, quality of life, and health disparities as it relates to pelvic floor disorders, and the pathophysiology and treatment of interstitial cystitis. In the laboratory she is pursuing investigations on the role of environmental stress in the development and maintenance of urinary symptoms, voiding dysfunction and bladder pain. She has been involved in some of the seminal work of the use of adipose derived stem cells for lower urinary tract reconstruction. She is currently Principal Investigator in the NIH sponsored Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Urologic Pelvic Pain (MAPP) research network.
She has been a recipient of numerous research grants and has served as reviewer of multiple journals and member of study sections for the NIH and other research foundations. She is an expert in the care of women with pelvic floor disorders including urinary incontinence and voiding dysfunction, pelvic organ prolapse, urinary fistulas and genitourinary tract reconstruction. She has been voted a Southern California Super Doctor multiple years in a row. She has been the recipient of multiple research awards from the American Urological Association (AUA), the Western Section of the AUA, and the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine, and Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU). In 2008 she was the recipient of the Zimskind Award, an award given by SUFU to an individual with significant contribution to the field of Pelvic Medicine and Voiding Dysfunction within the first 10 years of their career.