President’s Perspective: Presidential Focus for 2026

Dear friends and colleagues,

Happy New Year! I am excited to begin 2026 as your new AUGS President and truly look forward to all that we will accomplish together.

I am deeply grateful to our 64 new volunteers, including the new Board members:

Tina Mahajan, MD (Vice President)

Gena Dunivan, MD (Director-at-Large)

Miles Murphy, MD (Director-at-Large)

Patrick Nosti, MD (Director-at-Large)

In total, AUGS is led by nearly 200 volunteers across 21 committees advancing AUGS strategic priorities and future growth. Our volunteers' tireless efforts are what make this society THE organization to support, protect, and advance the field of urogynecology. I encourage anyone and everyone to volunteer!

Presidential focus for 2026: Protecting what we've built and being clear about where we're going.

1. Strengthen and Protect Our Subspecialty: A leading priority of the AUGS strategic plan is to advocate for urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery (URPS) subspecialists and their patients.

High priority activities to support this include:

• Preserving Excellence in URPS Fellowship Training: We will continue to protect the URPS scope of practice and collaborate with certification and education bodies to enhance and strengthen surgical training and core competencies across fellowships and residency programs.
• Promoting Equity for Residents Pursuing URPS: Effective with the 2027 application cycle (for 2028 positions), the URPS fellowship match date will move to October 1 to align with the standard obstetric-gynecologic subspecialty timeline. This change, led by Dr. Tanaz Ferzandi (Immediate Past President), is driven by input from fellowship program directors, applicants' needs, and support from the NRMP. This change is intended to improve applicant readiness, promote equity with other subspecialties, and better support the long-term strength of the urogynecology workforce.
• Pursuing the Two-Digit Subspecialty Code: Dr. Ferzandi will continue to lead the task force to obtain recognition of the unique training and experience of URPS-trained clinicians and the quality of care they provide.
• Promoting the Subspecialty to Patients: We are exploring a public awareness campaign to elevate the visibility of the subspecialty, highlight the complexity and effect of pelvic floor disorders, and help patients and health care professionals better understand when and where to refer to a subspecialist.

2. Expand Transparency Within AUGS: A major focus of my Presidency is to make it easier for members to engage and lead within AUGS by:

• Increasing transparency in volunteer and election processes
• Clarifying and fostering pathways for member engagement and leadership
• Advancing and promoting the AUGS Strategic Plan

While your leadership and AUGS staff are prioritizing these efforts, there is SO MUCH MORE that AUGS has to offer to our members! AUGS is the professional home for urogynecology, and your engagement makes our mission possible. Visit the AUGS website to keep up with "What has AUGS done for me lately?" and don't forget to renew your 2026 AUGS membership to take advantage of the offerings.

Thank you for your continued commitment to our specialty. I am honored to serve as your 2026 President.

With warm regards,

Emily Lukacz, MD
AUGS President

Class Challenge Champions

Join me in congratulating the Class of 2015 for winning the inaugural AUGS Foundation Class Challenge!

American Urogynecologic Society

9466 Georgia Ave PMB 2064, Silver Spring, MD 20910

(301) 273-0570