UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Dr. Judd W. Moul is one of three alumni from the Penn State Eberly College of Science to have received the 2023 Alumni Fellow Award, the most prestigious award given by the Penn State Alumni Association.
A 1979 graduate, Moul is the James H. Semans M.D. Professor of Surgery at Duke University Medical Center in the urologic surgery division and the Duke Cancer Institute. He is a retired colonel from the United States Army Medical Corps and was the director of the U.S. Department of Defense Center for Prostate Disease Research at Walter Reed Army Medical Center from 1991 to 2004.
Moul’s clinical practice focuses on broad aspects of prostate cancer and prostate disease. He is a noted authority on prostate cancer in African American men, biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer, prostate-specific antigen testing, nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy, and prostate-screening biomarkers.
Moul served as the division chief of urology at Duke from 2004 through 2011. During this time, the program was continuously ranked in the top 10 nationally by U.S. News and World Report, and Moul reestablished Duke pediatric urology and a research year for residents, initiated a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense to train an Army urologist each year, and established the Duke Prostate Center.
Demonstrating their commitment to training residents and mentoring students and trainees, Moul and his wife, Ellen, a 1981 graduate of the Penn State College of Health and Human Development, endowed a scholarship in the Eberly College of Science to support undergraduate students pursuing a career in the medical field.
In this Q&A, Moul shares a little about his work, his path toward becoming a physician and his time at Penn State.
Can you tell us a little bit about what you're doing now at Duke? And what's the most rewarding thing about your work?
Moul: I've had a number of jobs at Duke over the years. I've been there now close to 20 years. I started as the division chief of urology, and I served in that capacity for the first eight years. And then when the new cancer institute opened, I transitioned to being a physician there. I would say the most rewarding thing of my job is taking care of patients. I've done research, both clinical research and bench science, in the past. I've had fantastic opportunities. But ultimately, I'm a physician. I love patient care. And now in the latter part of my career, I've transitioned, come full circle back to taking care of patients. I also love working with the resident doctors, interns, and students. And now that I don't have as many administrative responsibilities as I once had, I'm able to devote more of that time to teaching. So I generally always have a student or a resident in clinic with me, and I love that.
Your specialty is prostate cancer and prostate disease. What made you choose that?
Moul: I chose urology because of the people. During my third year in medical school, when you're doing different rotations and you're getting exposed to different specialties — some you like, some you don't like so much, but urology just seemed to click. I liked the people. I liked the diseases. I liked the patients. Many of the diseases we were dealing with were fixable. They were acute problems and not necessarily chronic diseases. So you had an operation to fix that, or medication to fix this or that. And so the patients’ satisfactions were fairly high. And the urologists, they seemed to be very happy in what they were doing.
Can you tell us a little bit more about your path to becoming a doctor?
Moul: When I was a senior in high school, my dad died. He was in a minor motor vehicle accident, but it turns out he had an abdominal aortic aneurysm that ruptured during his car accident. It wasn't recognized in a timely fashion, and he passed away. That was three weeks before I was scheduled to start at Penn State. It was a very difficult time. I was interested in medicine, but that really gelled my desire to become a physician and was clearly a motivating factor for me during my years at Penn State and in subsequent years. Looking back on it, my mother was amazing, because she lost her husband three weeks before her only child was going off to college. It must have been unbelievably difficult. But you know, she persevered and saw that I got off to college; she had a stiff upper lip. Fortunately, she had good family support. She had a number of sisters, and they were all parenting me together. You don't recognize it as a kid. But I was very fortunate to have a great family.
When you came to Penn State, what stands out in your mind about that experience and how it prepared you?
Moul: Number one, I met the love of my life, Ellen and we have been married now for over 40 years. I could not have done any of this without her love, support, and total encouragement. Second, I would say, being exposed to kids from all over the state and other parts of the country was eye-opening. Like many kids at that time, we were somewhat sheltered. I grew up in rural York County, Pennsylvania, went to a very homogeneous high school, and was not exposed to a lot of the world. So coming to Penn State opened up a new world and kind of set the tone for being able to work with people with different backgrounds. I would say that was certainly life changing. And then all the opportunities that this place had, even though it's big — and I will say, it was a real kick in the pants to come here as a freshman with this huge campus and so much to offer — but once I got into it, it was great, and people were very welcoming. I got involved in the college student council, met like-minded kids, and it just was a great experience.
Any memories that stand out for you?
Moul: Carl Sagan visited the college when I was a student here, and I was one of the kids that got to escort him onto the stage at Eisenhower Auditorium and meet him personally, backstage before the speech. And years later, I felt like Sheldon on 'The Big Bang Theory' — that could have been an episode. I was involved with a number of career open houses that the college did back in the day for high school students interested in science; and through the student council, I got to help run those events for two years in a row and learned a lot about how to organize and plan an event and work with other kids — that was really positive experience.
Where was your favorite place to study on campus?
Moul: I was involved with student council, and we had an office in the basement of Whitmore Lab. That was a secret place that I would go to study. That was an added benefit. I also studied in my room a fair amount and with Ellen.
What is one piece of advice you'd give to current Penn State students?
Moul: So for any student, particularly prehealth students, I would say, ‘Broaden your horizons.’ Science is fantastic. The science classes I took here, particularly biochemistry, were fantastic. They lit the fire for my career. But I really loved the nonscience classes. I took art and art history. My English classes were extremely helpful for my future career as far as being able to write succinctly. So I would say to the students, ‘Get a broad education. Focus on science because that's what you need to get into medical school or whatever profession, but don't ignore the nonscience and the liberal arts classes.’
Is there a piece of advice that you got from a professor or a staff member, anybody at the University, that's really stuck with you through the years?
Moul: I guess the person, the faculty member, I remember the most was Dean Thomas Wartik. Dean Wartik was my dean when I was here, and I got to have some interaction with him because I was on the student council. And he just made an impression as such a calm and I will say grandfatherly person at the time. He was probably younger than I am now at this point; but at the time, he seemed like an elder statesman, scientist and dean. But the thing that struck me is years later, after I was already well established in science, I was directing the Army's research program in prostate cancer, and he sought me out. He was retired as the dean, and he sought me out, sent me a letter, and then subsequently we had a phone call that made a huge impact. To be contacted by someone who I looked up to when I was at Penn State, years later, and he was just congratulating me on my career. It was really something that has stood by me.
And I think one of the things that has taught me is, now that I'm in his shoes, trying to be respectful of the young people I'm trying to train, trying to be mindful of what they're going through, and trying to be grateful and give back to them what he gave back to me.
Speaking of giving back, you and your wife have created a scholarship here at Eberly. What can you say about your motivation to do that?
Moul: Ellen and I were both first-generation college students. My father finished ninth grade. He was a smart man, and he could have gone to college had he had the opportunity, but he didn't have the opportunity. But in those days, he was successful; he had a good job and was well respected in the community. My mom finished high school, and she was a very bright woman. She won the state of Pennsylvania spelling championship when she was a high school senior. So I know she was a bright woman — but again, never had the opportunity to go to college. And so we wanted to do something primarily for first-generation college students, and certainly wanted to give back to Penn State.
Note: this interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.