BCAN Announces Recipients of Its 2024 Bladder Cancer Career Development Award

February 5, 2025

Empowering Translational Research with a $250,000 Grant to Advance
Bladder Cancer Treatment and Care

(Bethesda, MD) Today, the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN) announced the awardees of its 2024 Bladder Cancer Career Development Award (CDA), Lay Teng Ang, PhD, an Assistant Professor at Stanford University in the Department of Urology and Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, and Brendan Guercio, MD, a medical oncologist and Assistant Professor at the Wilmot Cancer Institute at the University of Rochester, New York.

The Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network’s Career Development Awards are prestigious three-year, $250,000 grants designed to empower the next generation of researchers to lead innovative, independent programs focused on bladder cancer. These awards fuel groundbreaking translational, clinical, or epidemiological research with the potential to transform new ideas into life-changing advancements in patient care.

Meri-Margaret Deoudes, CEO of BCAN, said “We are thrilled to present these prestigious awards to Drs. Ang and Guercio for their innovative proposals. With bladder cancer cases expected to increase this year and beyond, finding new and effective treatments for patients is more critical than ever.

Dr. Ang’s proposal aims to explore whether human stem cells can replace damaged bladder cells with healthy ones to potentially cure bladder cancer. Her lab will test the specialized bladder cells to ensure they are adequate to replace damaged cells and will then evaluate whether these cells can repair and regenerate damaged bladders in mice.

Dr. Ang said, “I am thrilled to receive the BCAN Career Development Award. I hope to use these cells to restore healthy bladder tissue in cancer patients, moving us closer to a cure.” 

Dr. Guercio’s study will investigate if diet and gut bacteria can impact the effectiveness of enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab treatment for advanced bladder cancer. Researchers will determine whether eating a high-fiber, low-fructose diet leads to longer survival without disease progression, if certain genes in stool samples are linked to fiber intake and treatment response, and if specific gut bacteria are associated with fructose intake and treatment outcomes.

Dr. Guercio, also the recipient of a 2021 BCAN Young Investigator Award, said, “Patients and clinicians alike are increasingly interested in the impact of diet and the microbiome on cancer treatment, yet the scientific community has only just begun to explore this critical area of research.  Our goal is to ultimately improve survival outcomes for patients with bladder cancer.”

BCAN has committed more than $10 million in bladder cancer research to help create more and better tomorrows for bladder cancer patients and those who love them.  The need for new and more effective treatment options is urgent – estimates indicate that there are more than 725,000 people living with the disease in the United States and in 2025 alone, more than 84,000 people will receive a bladder cancer diagnosis.

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The Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, or BCAN, was founded in 2005 and provides patients with the critical information and community support they need to thrive today – and champions innovative research and responsive national policy to inspire hope for tomorrow.

Contact:  Mark Story
Director of Communications and Marketing
[email protected]