About Dr. Barken

  • 1. Facilitator and Founder, San Diego Prostate Cancer Support Group
  • 2. Founder, Chairman, and Medical Director, Prostate Cancer Research and Education Foundation
  • 3. Holder of Two U.S. Patents for Computerized Laser Surgery
  • 4. Holder of One U.S. Patent for Computerized Cryosurgery
  • 5. Holder of one U.S patent for High Temperature Cryosurgery System and Method of Using the same.
  • 6. Voluntary Clinical Professor, U.C.S.D.
  • 6. Certified, American Board of Urology
  • 7. Fellow, American College of Surgeons
  • 8. Fellow, American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery
Dr. Barken devotes his time to patient support activities, for prostate cancer patients and their loved ones. He is able to focus on finding and evaluating new research opportunities to be funded by PC-REF that can open the door to better treatments and better technology for today's prostate cancer patients. Indeed, PC-REF has been able to make seed money grants to innovative researchers with new ideas, enabling them to gather preliminary data and then apply for large government grants. Details of PC-REF Research projects are available. Dr. Barken is able to provide support and information to prostate cancer patients and their loved ones via "Ask Dr. Barken" video blog, where he provides comments and information to those in need. For those who require a more intensive and personal review of their specific case, click on http://prostatecancercoach.com The Decision Pyramid summarizes Dr. Barken's approach to patient empowerment, starting with collecting information and ending with treatment decisions made in partnership with the patient's doctor. Dr. Barken first and foremost believes in strongly preserving quality of life for the patient. Therefore, he urges the patient to ask himself, "What can I do for myself?" before asking the doctor "What can you do for me?" This forms the basis of Dr. Barken's M.E.D.S. Program. Dr. Barken's training and experience have brought him to a position of expertise in prostate cancer at all stages of the disease. Dr. Israel Barken graduated from Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem, Israel. He completed three years of post graduate training in General Surgery and another three years of specialization in Urology in St. Louis at Barnes Hospital of Washington University. Barnes Hospital is recognized as one of the "Top Ten" teaching and research centers in the United States. Dr. Barken is certified by the American Board of Urology. Among other distinctions, he is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a Fellow of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. He is a Voluntary Clinical Professor at UCSD where he is involved in research projects. Dr. Barken had the honor of being invited to perform the first laser prostatectomy in China in 1992 and of teaching laser surgery in that country. Dr. Barken holds two U.S. patents in the field of computerized laser surgery and a third patent in the field of cryosurgery.  Recently he was awarded a Cryoablation Patent on different mode of executing the procedure.  Another patent is pending, using a new Cooling Engine for the Cryoablation machine.  This new Machine is intended to fit the new approach of freezing tumors. More will be described soon. Fueled by his life-long love of aviation, Dr. Barken has been involved in the development of a tilt-wing aircraft, a hybrid with the speed of an airplane and the maneuverability of a helicopter. Because PC-REF supporters come from prostate cancer communities all over the U.S., Dr. Barken jokes that he will use the first Tilt-Wing to make cross-country house calls.

Since 1989, he has served as the founder and facilitator of the San Diego prostate cancer Support Group, the first such group in San Diego and in the country. Dr. Barken also served on the Medical Advisory Board of PAACT (Patient Advocates for Advanced Cancer Treatments) and the Board of ECPCP (Educational Council for prostate cancer Patients). In addition, Dr. Barken was one of the founding members on the Board of the National prostate cancer Coalition. During his two years of service, he also sat on the NPCC Scientific Committee with Dr. Andy Von Eschenbach, who was currently the head of the NCI (National Cancer Institute).

Moving from patient empowerment to patient leadership, Dr. Barken and a group of activist patients founded the Prostate Cancer Research and Education Foundation in 1997. He now serves as Chairman of the Board and Medical Director of PC-REF. Dr. Barken is involved in Cryo Immunology approaches for prostate cancer in different stages of disease and for different cancers. He gives unbiased opinions on a wide variety of treatments that he knows first-hand: observation, surgery, radiation, radiation seeds, cryosurgery, laparoscopic surgery, laser surgery, Electroporation, HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound)medications and alternative medicine. His approach, through the M.E.D.S. Program, is to treat the whole person, body, mind and spirit, and not merely the diseased gland. He enjoys close, long term relationships with patients in all the different stages of prostate cancer, whether local or systemic.

Mr. Justin Schorr , the president and Co-Founder of "Kiltted to Kick Cancer". The organization made a genrerous donation to PCREF to enable to launch CryoImmunology Research in the lab. The research is onging and needs additional funds for completion of the project.