BALTIMORE, March 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Urological Association (AUA) and the Urology Care Foundation—the official foundation of the AUA—are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2019 Urology Care Foundation Research Scholar Awards. These awards provide one- or two-year mentored research training for clinical and postdoctoral fellows or early-career faculty, and are critically important in developing future research leaders and advancing patient care.

"The Urology Care Foundation has recognized a major need to encourage bright, young physician-scientists and researchers to dedicate their careers to improving patients' lives through better understanding of the development and management of urologic diseases and conditions," said Harris M. Nagler, MD, Urology Care Foundation President. "The goal of these researchers and their work is to have a significant influence on the practice of urology and the lives of those affected by urologic diseases and conditions."

AUA Mid-Atlantic Section William D. Steers, MD Award: Daniel P. Casella, MD, will receive this award for a two-year study on hypospadias repair. Dr. Casella's research will be conducted at Children's National Medical Center under the mentorship of Eric Vilain, MD, PhD, Dolores Lamb, PhD, HCLD, and Marius Linguraru, PhD.

AUA New England Section Award: Jongmin Kim, PhD, will receive this award for a two-year study on spermatogenesis at Massachusetts General Hospital under the mentorship of Robert Kingston, PhD.

AUA Northeastern Section Award: Janthin Bandari, MD, and Wei Chen, PhD, from the University of Pittsburgh will receive one- and two-year awards, respectively. Dr. Chen's study is focused on benign prostatic hyperplasia under the mentorship of Zhou Wang, PhD and Dr. Bandari's research will evaluate the impact of the BCG drug shortage under the mentorship of Bruce Jacobs, MD, MPH, Benjamin Davies, MD, and Jonathan Yabes, PhD.

AUA South Central Section Award: and Weranja Ranasinghe, MBChB, PhD, MRCS(Ed), and Ben L. Woolbright, PhD, will receive one- and two-year awards, respectively. Dr. Woolbright will conduct a bladder cancer study at the University of Kansas Medical Center under the mentorship of John Taylor, MD and Dr. Ranasinghe will investigate prostate cancer immunotherapy at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center under the mentorship of Sumit Subudhi, MD, PhD, and Brian Chapin, MD.

AUA Southeastern Section Award: Siobhan M. Hartigan, MD, and Praveen K. Jaiswal, PhD, will receive one- and two-year awards, respectively. Dr. Jaiswal will work on a castration-resistant prostate cancer study at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center under the mentorship of Hari Koul, PhD and Dr. Hartigan's study will focus on overactive bladder under the mentorship of W. Reynolds, MD, MPH, Seth Smith, PhD, and Roger Dmochowski, MD, MMHC.

AUA Western Section Award: Kathryn Patras, PhD, will receive this award for a two-year bladder inflammation study through the University of California, San Diego under the mentorship of Victor Nizet, MD.

Endo Pharmaceuticals Award: Sriram Eleswarapu MD, PhD, will receive this award for a one-year research study on Peyronie's disease at the University of California, Los Angeles. The study will be under the mentorship of Ali Khademhosseini, PhD, Jacob Rajfer, MD, and Jess Mills, MD.

Endourological Society Raju Thomas, MD Award: The Endourological Society Raju Thomas, MD Award is presented to an outstanding investigator conducting endourological research. Naveen Kachroo, MD, PhD, will receive this award for a one-year study at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation under the mentorship of Aaron Miller, PhD and Manoj Monga, MD, FACS, FRCS.

Genentech, Inc. Award: Pascal Häfliger, PhD, will receive this award for a two-year study on metastatic bladder cancer at Columbia University Medical Center under the mentorship of Cory Abate-Shen, PhD.

Indian American Urological Association Sakti Das, MD Award: Nahid Punjani, MD, MPH, will receive this award for a one-year study on non-hormonal contraceptives at Weill Medical College of Cornell University under the mentorship of Marc Goldestein, MD, Dolores Lamb, PhD, HCLD, Darius Paduch, MD, PhD, and Peter Schlegel, MD.

Robert J. Krane, MD Award: Joseph D. Shirk, MD, will receive this award for his outstanding, one-year study on robotic prostatectomy imaging at the University of California, Los Angeles under the mentorship of Christopher Saigal, MD, MPH.

Societies for Pediatric Urology Sushil Lacy, MD Award: Emilie K. Johnson, MD, MPH, will receive this award for her two-year study on disparities in access to neonatal circumcision. This study will be conducted at the Ann &amp, Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago under the mentorship of Jane Holl, MD, MPH.

Society for Urologic Oncology Specialized Program of Research Excellence Award: Eugene J. Pietzak, III, MD, will receive this award for a two-year study on non-muscle invasive bladder cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center under the mentorship of David Solit, MD, and Bernard Bochner, MD.

Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine and Urogenital Reconstruction Hari Badlani Award: Samir Derisavifard, MD, will receive this award for his one-year study on ambulatory cystometry at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation under the mentorship of Howard Goldman, MD, and Margot Damaser, PhD.

"The Urology Care Foundation offers a portfolio of mentored research training awards intended to recruit outstanding young investigators into urology research and foster their career success," said Aria F. Olumi, MD, chair of the AUA's Research Council. "The recruitment pipeline follows the continuum of the research career-from medical students to residents to post-doctoral fellows to early-career surgeon-scientist and research faculty."

To learn more about the AUA Research Scholar Awards visit: https://www.auanet.org/research/research-funding/aua-funding/research-scholar-awards

About the Urology Care Foundation
The Urology Care Foundation is the world's leading nonprofit urological health foundation and the official foundation of the American Urological Association. We partner with physicians, researchers, healthcare professionals, patients, caregivers, families and the public to support and improve urological care by funding research, developing patient education and pursuing philanthropic support. To learn more about the Urology Care Foundation and its programs visit: www.urologyhealth.org.

About the American Urological Association:
Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 22,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy. To learn more about the AUA, visit www.AUAnet.org.

Contact:  Christine Frey, AUA
                 443-909-0839, cfrey@AUAnet.org

SOURCE American Urological Association