BALTIMORE, June. 14, 2024 (GLOBAL NEWSWIRE) -- The American Urological Association (AUA) and the Urology Care Foundation, the official foundation of the AUA, are pleased to recognize 16 researchers as recipients of the 2024 Urology Care Foundation Research Scholar Awards. Research Scholar Awards support future research leaders and ensure they receive the necessary training and guidance for a successful research career.

These awards provide $40,000 annually for one or two-year mentored research training for clinical and postdoctoral fellows or early-career faculty. The program has invested over $25 million to support over 600 Research Scholars, most of whom have remained in committed research career tracks and now serve as leaders in urologic research and clinical practice.

“The Urology Care Foundation is committed to enhancing global urologic health by funding research, offering patient education resources, and endorsing humanitarian efforts,” said Harris M. Nagler, MD, FACS, President of the Urology Care Foundation. “By supporting researchers, we cultivate professionals who will improve our ability to prevent, detect, and treat urologic diseases, thereby advancing urologic health for all.”

Congratulations to the 2024 awardees:

AUA North Central Section Award: Shany Picciotto, PhD, will receive support for a two-year research project titled “Impact of chemotherapy on the somatic mutation burden of sperm” at The Case Western Reserve University, under the mentorship of Jonathan Shoag, MD.

AUA Northeastern Section Award: Kathryn Marchetti, MD, will receive support for a one-year research project titled “The use of remote monitoring to improve patient-reported outcomes and readmission rates following radical cystectomy” at the University of Pittsburgh, under the mentorship of Bruce Jacobs, MD.

AUA Southeastern Section Award: Alireza Ghoreifi, MD, will receive support for a one-year research project titled “Urine-based methylation markers in the diagnosis and surveillance of upper tract urothelial carcinoma” at Duke University School of Medicine, under the mentorship of Michael Abern, MD.

AUA Southeastern Section Award: Lexiaochuan Wen, MD, will receive support for a one-year research project titled “Utilizing Cell-Free Urine Tumor DNA to Predict Response and Resistance to TAR-210 Erdafitinib” at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, under the mentorship of Roger Li, MD.

AUA Western Section Award: Tristan Nicholson, MD, PhD, will receive support for a one-year research project titled “Impact of wildfire smoke on sperm quality and reproductive outcomes” at the University of Washington, under the mentorship of Thomas Walsh, MD.

Chesapeake Urology Associates Sanford J. Siegel, MD Prostate Cancer Research Scholar Award: Qian Yang, PhD, will receive support for a two-year research project titled “ONECUT2 Governs a lncRNA network driving castration-resistant prostate cancer progression” at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, under the mentorship of Michael Freeman, PhD.

Endourological Society Award: Daniel Massana Roquero, PhD, will receive support for a one-year research project titled “Linking bacteria and kidney stone disease: A chemical and microbiological study” at Stanford  University, under the mentorship of Joseph Liao, MD.

Endourological Society Joseph Segura, MD Scholarship in Endourology and Stone Management: Suprita Krishna, MD will receive support for a one-year research project titled “Feasibility of ureteral stent omission after flexible ureteroscopy using a ureteral access sheath: a randomized clinical trial” at the University of Michigan, under the mentorship of Khurshid Ghani, MBChB.

Endourological Society Raju Thomas, MD Award: Tyler Sheetz, MD, will receive support for a one-year research project titled “Utilization of bisphosphonates for the treatment of recurrent calcium-based nephrolithiasis: a randomized controlled trial” at the University of California, San Diego under the mentorship of Roger Sur, MD.

Indian American Urological Association Anupam Ted Kedia Award: Vidit Sharma, MD, will receive support for a two-year research project titled “Using Artificial Intelligence to improve surgical outcomes for patients with renal tumors and venous tumor thrombus” at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, under the mentorship of Bradley Leibovich, MD.

Indian American Urological Association Sakti Das, MD, Award: Venkat Ramakrishnan, MD, PhD, will receive support for a one-year research project titled “Development of a novel minimally invasive intravesical drug-delivery platform to address neurogenic bladder” at Boston Children's Hospital, under the mentorship of Rosalyn Adam, PhD.

Sexual Medicine Society of North America Award: Luke Witherspoon, MD, will receive support for a two-year research project titled “Evaluating a novel fractional CO2 laser in the treatment of chronic phase Peyronie’s disease.” at the University of Ottawa, under the mentorship of Ryan Flannigan, MD.

Societies for Pediatric Urology Sushil Lacy, MD, Award: Nima Nassiri, MD, will receive support for a two-year research project titled “Feasibility of protocols for immunological tolerance and immunosuppression withdrawal in bladder transplantation” at the University of California, Los Angeles, under the mentorship of Elaine Reed, PhD.

Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine and Urogenital Reconstruction Hari Badlani Award: Zhina Sadeghi, MD, will receive support for a two-year research project titled “Unraveling the impact of urethral changes with aging in female urinary incontinence: A transcriptomic and morphometric study” at the University of California (Irvine), under the mentorship of Xiaolin Zi, MD, PhD.

Society of Urologic Oncology Award: Ali Zahalka, MD, PhD will receive support for a one-year research project titled “Neoadjuvant nerve-targeted therapy in the treatment of high-risk prostate cancer” at UT Southwestern, under the mentorship of Vitaly Margulis, MD.

Society of Urologic Oncology Specialized Programs of Research Excellence Award: Chengheng Liao, PhD, will receive support for a two-year research project titled “Investigation of BBOX1 as a novel tumor suppressor in ccRCC” at UT Southwestern, under the mentorship Qing Zhang, PhD.

"Each year, I am so impressed with the impactful and interesting research these awardees are conducting,” said Steven Kaplan, MD, FACS, chair of the AUA's Research Council. “Programs like the Research Scholar Awards allow the AUA and UCF to help advance the careers of these rising stars in urology and, in the process, help evolve our specialty as a whole. I look forward to seeing their progress and results over the next couple of years.”

To learn more about the Urology Care Foundation Research Scholar Awards visit: https://www.auanet.org/research-and-data/research-awards/aua-funding/research-scholar-awards

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 nearly 25,000 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.

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. Partnering with physicians, researchers, healthcare professionals, patients, caregivers, families and the public, the Foundation supports and improves urologic clinical 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.

Contact:

Corey Del Bianco, Corporate Communications & Media Relations Manager

443-909-4033,

cdelbianco@AUAnet.org

SOURCE American Urological Association