Joel Funk, M.D., joined the UAB Department of Urology as a professor in September 2025. He completed his undergraduate training at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, earning degrees in English and Biology. He attended medical school at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. He then completed his residency training at the University of Arizona–Tucson, followed by advanced training in prostate enucleation (HoLEP) with Tev Aho at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, England.
Learn more about his journey and what inspires his work below.
Can you share your professional background and experiences prior to joining our institution?
Funk: I was a member of the faculty in the Department of Urology at University of Arizona from 2009 to June 2025. My practice is very focused on the medical and surgical management of benign prostate obstruction in men. I have expertise in prostate enucleation. I have completed over 3,000 of these surgeries prior to coming to UAB.
What inspired you to pursue a career in this field?
Funk: My inspiration to pursue urology was my interaction with the urology faculty at Northwestern when I was a medical student. The compassion and dedication of the faculty in caring for their patients I found inspiring. Moreover, the combination of a surgical based specialty with the ability to have longitudinal care of people for years and even decades was attractive.
What is your primary area of expertise within your field, and what sparked your passion for it?
Funk: As per above, my focus, passion and interest is in the surgical management of benign prostate obstruction. What sparked this was the complexity and technical challenges of HoLEP itself, but also that these patients, after surgery, are some of the most grateful and happy patients we see in urology.
What aspects of your new role here are you most excited about?
Funk: I am excited to help the department and UAB build a world class program in the management of prostate enlargement and obstruction as we did at University of Arizona. Additionally, the extensive research resources at UAB, I hope, will allow us to dig into the origins of prostate enlargement and make translational science discoveries that may one day prevent this disease from affecting 80 percent of men in their lifetime!
What are your goals for making an impact through both your teaching and patient care in this role?
Funk: My goals are to improve care for men across Alabama and the Southeastern United States by bringing decades of experience in managing these complex conditions to UAB. This represents a paradigm shift for Alabama and the Southeast, which have historically lagged the nation in providing this advanced level of care to men in the state and region.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Funk: My hobbies are fly fishing and traveling with my wife. We have two kids, ages 21 and 18, and four dogs including two French Bulldogs.