Michael R. van Balken earned his MD from the Catholic University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and received his urological training at the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen as well as at the Policlinico G.B. Rossi, Verona, Italy. In 2007 he completed his PhD thesis at the Free University Amsterdam on the subject: “Percutaneous Tibial Nerve stimulation in Lower Urinary Tract Disorders’. He is now a staff urologist in the Department of Urology at the Rijnstate Hospital in Arnhem, The Netherlands, his main fields of interest being urinary incontinence, reconstructive urology and the use of Social Media in healthcare. Starting 2014 Michael will be Program Director ('opleider') Urology, responsible for the training of urological residents in Arnhem. Dr. van Balken is the (co-)author of over 20 peer-reviewed publications, 5 books and nearly 50 abstracts. He is member of the EAU Section of Female and Functional Urology, board member of the Dutch Steering Committee on Urinary Incontinence and Medical Advisor to several pharmaceutical companies and guideline committees regarding the subject. Recently he became TOPuroloog 2013 (best urologist), according to his peers.

Michael is a strong believer in 'compassion for care' and shared decision-making ('participatory healthcare'), as well as strongly engaged in human rights issues like non-medical circumcision in children and (the violation of) medical neutrality. He uses Blogs and Social Media to draw attention to these subjects.