Israel Franco, MD, FAAP, FACS has joined Yale Medicine Urology as Director of the Pediatric Bladder and Continence Program. Dr. Franco has over 25 years of experience in caring for pediatric patients with urologic problems, most recently as Professor of Urology at New York Medical College.
He received his medical degree from Albert Einstein College and his fellowship training at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, now the Lurie Children’s Hospital. He is the lead editor and contributor to a multidisciplinary textbook, Pediatric Incontinence: Evaluation and Clinical Management. Dr. Franco was an early innovator in laparoscopic and robotic surgery in pediatric urology. He is on the executive committee and the treasurer of the International Children’s Continence Society, which is involved in educating physicians and caregivers about bladder problems in children. The society also sets the standards for care for these problems in children throughout the world.
Dr. Franco is an authority on non-invasive testing and treatments in children with incontinence issues. Dr. Franco’s clinical research is focused on understanding the causes of incontinence in children and finding ways to predict incontinence episodes in children with new non-invasive technologies. He has developed and participated in numerous clinical trials that have led to the approval of drugs for the treatment of lower urinary tract dysfunction in children. At Yale Urology, Dr. Franco plans to expand the use of non-invasive at home transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS) for the management of lower urinary tract symptoms in children.