Our Faculty

Dr. Robert E. Weiss is the Harris L. Willits Professor and Chief of the Division of Urology at Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School. He is also the Program Director for the Urology Residency Program. Dr. Weiss specializes in urologic oncology surgery – treating bladder cancer, renal cancer, prostate and testis cancer. He also treats patients with kidney stones and benign prostate disease. He has particular expertise in laparoscopic and robotic surgery, as well as neobladder reconstruction and partial nephrectomy.

Dr. Weiss graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a degree in chemistry and honors in biochemistry. He graduated from New York University School of Medicine and completed his urology training at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He then completed a urologic oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where he was named an American Cancer Society Fellow.

Dr. Weiss was a faculty member for several years at Rutgers- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and served as residency program director. He received several resident teaching awards during this time He has been listed many times in New York Magazine’s “Best Doctors”, New Jersey Magazine’s “Best Doctors”, Inside New Jersey’s “Top Doctors” and Castle and Connolly’s “America’s Top Doctors in Cancer”. Also, he received the National Medical Award in Urology from the Kidney and Urology Foundation of America. Currently, he has been selected to serve as President of the New York Section of the American Urological Association.

Dr. Weiss has presented his research nationally as well as internationally. He has received national research funding in the areas of prostate imaging and bladder cancer. He looks forward to bringing his clinical and academic leadership experience to Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School.

Dr. Hossein Sadeghi-Nejad graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine where he was the recipient of the Goodwin Commencement Prize. He received his medical doctorate from the McGill University School of Medicine in Montreal, Canada and served as an Intern and Resident in General Surgery at the University of California in San Francisco. Dr. Sadeghi-Nejad completed his urological residency and fellowship training in Male Reproductive Medicine (infertility and erectile dysfunction) and microsurgery at the Boston University Medical Center under the auspices of Drs. Robert Krane, Irwin Goldstein, and Robert Oates.

Dr. Sadeghi-Nejad is Professor of Surgery / Urology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School,Chief of Urology at the Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System (VANJHCS), and the Director of the Center for Male Reproductive Medicine (private practice) at the Hackensack University Medical Center. Dr. Sadeghi-Nejad has served as a member of a global American Urological Association task force and has been selected for the last 8 editions of Castle Connolly's Top Doctors: New York Metro Area, New Jersey Monthly magazine’s "Best Doctors in New Jersey", and America’s Top Doctors (11th,12th, 13th ed) in 2012 / 2013/ 2014. Dr. Sadeghi-Nejad is certified by the American Board of Urology and is a member of numerous professional organizations including the American Urological Association, The Sexual Medicine Society of North America (SMSNA- committee chairman), and the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). Dr. Sadeghi-Nejad has served as the Scientific Program Chairman for the Sexual Medicine Society of North America and is a member of the Board of Directors for SMSNA. He has also served as committee chairperson for the International Society of Sexual Medicine (Communications Committee) and the Society for Study of Male Reproduction (Website). He is a scientific reviewer for numerous peer-reviewed journals and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Dr. Sadeghi-Nejad has been a participant in multiple Plenary Sessions of the American Urological Association Annual Meeting and is a co-author of the 2014 US Surgeon General’s Report. In 2013, Dr. Sadeghi-Nejad was selected to serve as a member of the American Urological Association Guidelines Panel. Dr. Sadeghi-Nejad is a member of the Board of Directors of the NY Section of the American Urological Association where he will serve as the New Jersey representative until 2015.

Dr. Alwaal is a board-certified and fellowship-trained reconstructive urologist and andrologist. He joined Rutgers New Jersey Medical School as an associate professor of urology. Dr. Alwaal earned his medical degree at King Abdulaziz University. He obtained a master's degree in surgical research from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He completed his residency in urology at McGill University in Montreal. He then continued his training and completed two fellowships' one in Urologic Reconstruction, Trauma, and the other in Andrology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) with Drs. Benjamin Breyer and Tom Lue.

Dr. Alwaal is experienced in performing complex urethral and penile reconstruction for urethral stricture and cosmetic disfigurement, male incontinence, and surgical treatment for erectile dysfunction. He also specializes in andrology, which includes the treatment of male sexual dysfunction (penile prosthesis), male infertility, low testosterone, Peyronie's disease, and voiding dysfunction. He previously practiced in Saudi Arabia and at Marshall University in West Virginia where he was the director of men's health and reconstructive urology and the chief of urology at Cabell Huntington Hospital.

He has authored or co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, abstracts, and book chapters on urologic reconstruction, sexual dysfunction, trauma, and prosthetics. He is a research and awards committee member in the SMSNA.

Dr. Kovac joins Rutgers New Jersey Medical School as an Associate Professor of Urology and an Attending at University Hospital.  He will also serve as the Associate Program Director of the Urology Residency Program.

Dr. Kovac is a board-certified and fellowship-trained urologic oncologist, specializing in the evaluation and treatment of cancers of the urinary tract, including prostate, kidney, bladder, testicular, adrenal and penile cancers.  He earned his medical degree at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and also completed his residency in Urology at McGill.  Evan then continued his training and completed a two-year fellowship in Urologic Oncology and Robotics at the renowned Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH.  Dr. Kovac is experienced in the latest diagnostic modalities and has specific expertise in ultrasound-MRI fusion biopsy for the diagnosis of prostate cancer.  His surgical proficiency is broad and he is highly skilled in open, endoscopic and robotic techniques for the treatment of genitourinary cancers.

He has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters on urologic oncology, has presented over 25 abstracts at national and international meetings, and is a leader in the optimization of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for the early detection of prostate cancer.  In addition, Dr. Kovac published an online training module for performing retroperitoneal lymph node dissection for the treatment of metastatic testicular cancer that is accessible to surgical trainees worldwide.

Prior to joining Rutgers, Evan practiced in New York at Montefiore Medical Center and was an Assistant Professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.  While at Montefiore, he led a collaboration with primary care physicians to create a novel prostate cancer screening decision aid designed specifically for multi-ethnic, underserved communities.  He also led the establishment of a first-of-its-kind prostate cancer center in the Bronx.

Dr. Kovac's responsibilities will include expanding clinical and research programs at Rutgers, such as clinical trial development/participation and increasing prostate cancer and PSA screening awareness, especially among our high-risk, minority population.