We are deeply saddened about the passing of Emeritus Professor Stuart Stanton, a revered figure, pioneer, and leading light in the field of urogynecology.
Stuart was born in 1938 and grew up in Dagenham, East London, and was the son of a General Practitioner. At the age of 10, he won a scholarship and attended the City of London School on the banks of the River Thames. He studied Medicine at The London Hospital Medical School from 1956 to 1961.
The specialty that most interested him as a student was Obstetrics. Surprisingly, he thought gynecology was a very “Cinderella” accompaniment.
After qualifying and a series of jobs, he completed his FRCS in 1966 and MRCOG in 1969. He developed an interest in research and worked as a research registrar at the Institute of Urology in London from 1971-2 under the auspices of Richard Turner-Warwick. This sealed his career in Urogynaecology.
After 18 months as a senior registrar in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St George’s Hospital, in 1974 Stuart was appointed as Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at St Helier Hospital, Carshalton with 2 sessions per week at St George’s Hospital to develop a Urogynaecology service.
With the support of Geoffrey Chamberlain departmental chair, Stuart was appointed as a Consultant Gynaecologist and Director of the Urogynaecology unit at St George’s Hospital, London, and continued this role until his retirement in 2003.
Stuart served on the Council of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists from 1984-88 and was a member of the RCOG working party on specialization in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from 1980-82. He was responsible for founding the subspecialty of Urogynaecology in the UK, despite opposition from many in the RCOG and elsewhere. He fought this with great conviction, and it was eventually agreed that Gynaecological Urology would be “a smaller 4th subspeciality”. He recommended that the name be changed to Urogynaecology in line with other countries.
Subsequently, he was responsible for setting up the program and training the first subspecialist in urogynaecology in the UK, who completed training in 1995. In 1997, he was awarded a personal chair at St George’s Hospital Medical School in Pelvic surgery and Urogynaecology.
He served on the editorial boards of several journals, held multiple visiting professorships, co-authored 13 textbooks, supervised eight MD theses, and published 220 original papers.
He trained 20 Israelis, 19 North Americans, and multiple doctors from the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Holland, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Philippines, Brazil, Turkey, Greece, Japan and Saudi Arabia, and was extremely loyal and supportive to them all. Many are household names in the field of Urogynaecology and part of the “Stanton family.”
As a mentor to his trainees, he led by example being extremely dedicated to his work but found time to share his humor, fun, empathy, and understanding. He loved traveling and meeting people from varied backgrounds and cultures, this in turn led to the international background of the trainees he attracted and supported. During national and international conferences, he would always introduce his trainees to his specialty colleagues and friends and encourage networking.
He was a founding member of the ICS, IUGA, and BSUG for which he was made Hon President in recognition of all that he had done for the subspecialty.
As we mourn the passing of Stuart Stanton, let us also celebrate the remarkable life he lived and the profound influence he had on the world of Urogynaecology. The subspecialty is where it is today thanks to him. His legacy will endure as a testament to the power of knowledge, mentorship, and a deep-rooted commitment to advancing the frontiers of science.
At this time, our thoughts are with his family. He is survived by Julia, his children Claire, Talia, Jo, Tamara, and Noah, and nine grandchildren.
On behalf of the IUGA Family,
Peter Dwyer
Bob Freeman
Annette Kuhn
Ash Monga
Ranee Thakar