CHICAGO — The American Medical Association (AMA), the nation’s largest physician organization, announced the re-election of Willie Underwood, III, M.D., M.Sc., M.P.H., a urologist based in Buffalo, N.Y., to its Board of Trustees. Dr. Underwood will also serve as board chair from 2023-2024.
“The goals on which the AMA was founded more than 175 years ago— professionalism, advocacy and ethics—are as noble and worthy today as they were then, and I am privileged to be a part of such a proud heritage,” said Dr. Underwood. “As we rebuild and recover in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, I look forward to working with my colleagues across medicine to advance the AMA Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians. Fixing prior authorization, reforming Medicare payment, and reducing physician burnout are vitally important steps at this critical moment for health care and medicine.”
Dr. Underwood has been an active leader in organized medicine for decades, and was first elected to the AMA Board of Trustees in 2019. He has chaired the AMA Council on Legislation and the AMA Resident and Fellow Section, served as president of the Erie County New York Medical Society, and he is an AMA Delegate from the American Urological Association (AUA).
A board-certified urologist with more than 20 years of overall urologic surgery experience, including more than 10 years focused on robotic urologic surgery, Dr. Underwood is an expert in health care disparities and health care policy. He has served on several national and regional health care policy committees, including as a board member of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of New York and the Board of Commissioners of the Joint Commission.
He has also served as a board member and medical advisor to the Love Canal Medical Fund Inc., as a member of the AMA and National Medical Association Commission to End Health Care Disparities, and as a member of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Urology Residency Review Committee.
In addition to co-authoring more than 120 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and published abstracts, he has received millions in research funding from the National Institute of Health and holds patents in the U.S. and Japan for co-developing a biomarker for prostate cancer. He is the co-founder of KAPS Biotechnology LLC, which is currently conducting a larger validation study of its new and novel prostate cancer biomarker.
Dr. Underwood earned his M.D. and M.Sc. from SUNY Upstate Medical University and his M.P.H. from the University of Michigan.
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About the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.
