2023 Bladder Cancer Think Tank Meeting

August 18, 2023

The 2023 Bladder Cancer Think Tank scientific meeting (TT23) took place in Washington, DC, from August 2-4, 2023. BCAN once again brought together a diverse group of clinicians, researchers, patient and caregiver advocates, and industry partners with a shared mission to create more and better tomorrows for bladder cancer patients and loved ones.

TT23 sparked stimulating collaborative dialogues within six plenary sessions, as well as an array of seven breakout sessions. This year’s event also proudly introduced a fresh cohort of eight exceptional John Quale Travel Fellows, featuring the next generation of great minds in bladder cancer research and patient care.

For more information about the 2023 Think Tank meeting, we invite you to read the agenda.

Videos from the Think Tank

Please click the + button below to see video of the day’s plenary and breakout sessions.

Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Patient Voice Panel
- Diane Zipursky Quale with Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN) Patient Advocates Mary Sullivan, Jim Scott, and Doug Maclean discussing clinical trial participation from the patient perspective.
Meet the John Quale Travel Fellows
- Drs. Petros Grivas and Max Kates introduce the eight John Quale Travel Fellows, each of whom makes brief remarks.
Thursday, August 3, 2023
Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO) mUC Case Competition
- University of California San Francisco, School of Pharmacy IPhO Chapter Winners Presentation with James Alexander, PharmD, IPhO CEO
BCAN 2022 Young Investigator Awardee Presentations
- 2022 Young Investigator Awardees Raie Bekele, PhD, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Laura Bukavina, MD, MPH, Fox Chase Cancer Center, and 2021 Bladder Cancer Research Innovation Awardee Weiguo Cui, PhD, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
If | Then: If it is true, then what does it imply?
- Co-chairs Max Kates, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine and Shilpa Gupta MD, Cleveland Clinic
Breakout sessions:

Survivorship Task Force
- Co-chairs Mary Dunn, RN, MSN, OCN, NP-C, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and Krisztina Emodi, FNP, MPH, CNS, University of California San Francisco Health
Carcinogenesis of Bladder Cancer: Exploring/Uncovering Environmental and Internal Risk Factors
- Co-chairs Sima P. Porten, MD, MPH, University of California, San Francisco and Sunil H. Patel, MD, MA, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Beyond bladder preservation: Radiotherapy across the spectrum of bladder cancer treatment
- Co-chairs: Leslie Ballas, MD, Cedars-Sinai and Monika Joshi, MD, MRCP, Penn State Cancer Institute
What is the clinical utility and potential for urine biomarkers?
- Co-chairs Yair Lotan, MD, University of Texas Southwestern Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and Alexandre Zlotta, MD, Mt. Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto
Friday, August 4, 2023
2022 Young Investigator Awardee and Patient Centered Clinical Young Investigator Awardee Presentations
- 2022 Young Investigator Awardee Presentation by Weisi Liu, PhD of Weill Medical College of Cornell University and 2022 Patient Centered Clinical Young Investigator Awardee Ava Saidian, MD, of Moores Cancer Center at the University of California San Diego Health
The Road to Health Equity in Bladder Cancer
- Chair: Samuel L. Washington III, MD, MAS, University of California, San Francisco
Breakout sessions:

Innate Immunity vs Adaptive Immunity in bladder cancer: Targeting novel immune pathways
- Co-chairs Neelam Mukherjee, Ph.D, University of Texas Health San Antonio, and Petros Grivas, MD, PhD, University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
The Oncobiome: Real world applications of Microbiome in Bladder Cancer
- Co-chairs Laura Bukavina, MD, MPH, and Shilpa Gupta MD, Cleveland Clinic and Krisztina Emodi, FNP, MPH, CNS, University of California San Francisco
Exploring rare variant subtypes of bladder tumors
- Co-chairs Roger Li, MD, Moffit Cancer Center and Karima Oualla, MD, MSc, Hassan II University Hospital, Morocco