Bladder Cancer Young Investigator Awardees

Meet Our Funded Investigators

At BCAN, we believe in encouraging the next generation of scientists and researchers who are working towards a world without bladder cancer. This is embodied through our Bladder Cancer Young Investigator Awards. These one year $75,000 grants fund researchers who are working in basic, translational, clinical, epidemiologic, bioengineering or any other scientific or research field, but are also working in a research environment capable of supporting transformational bladder cancer research.

The Bladder Cancer Young Investigator Awards support the professional development of outstanding early career research scientists and clinical cancer research investigators who have demonstrated a commitment to improving the lives of bladder cancer patients.  These awards are part of the more than $6 million in research grants that BCAN has funded.

To be eligible, applicants for both awards must be within six years of completion of a professional degree or clinical training at the time of submission.

2023 Bladder Cancer Young Investigator Awardees

• 2022 Young Investigator Awardees

  Young Investigator Award
  Dissecting the Interplay Between MAPK and PPARG Signaling in Bladder Cancer
  Raie Bekele, PhD
  Instructor of Radiation Oncology
  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

  Young Investigator Award
  Antitumor Activity of Lactobacillus Rhamnosus GG in Murine Model of Bladder Cancer
  Laura Bukavina, MD, MPH
  Urologic Oncology Fellow
  Research Institute of Fox Chase Cancer Center

  Young Investigator Award
  Synthetic Lethal Strategies to Limit Tumor Evolution Driven by APOBEC3 Activity in Urothelial Cancer
  Weisi Liu, PhD
  Post-doctoral Fellow in Hematology and Medical Oncology
  Weill Medical College of Cornell University

  Patient-Centered Clinical Research Young Investigator Award
  Disparities in Patient Reported Outcomes Among Spanish Speaking Latinx Patients with Bladder Cancer
  Ava Saidian, MD
  Urologic Oncology Fellow
  Moores Cancer Center at the University of California San Diego

   

• 2021 Young Investigator Awardees

  New Discoveries Young Investigator Award for Patient Centered Research
  Sexual Function in Women Undergoing Radical Cystectomy
  Svetlana Avulova, MD
  Urologic Oncology Fellow
  Mayo Clinic

  Palm Beach New Discoveries Young Investigator Award
  Clonal Architecture and Tumor Microenvironment of Cisplatin Resistant Localized Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer
  Filipe De Carvalho,MD, PhD
  Urologic Oncology Fellow
  Brigham and Women’s Hospital

  New Discoveries Young Investigator Award
  Associations of Patient Diet and Benefit from Immunotherapy in Urothelial Carcinoma
  Brendan Guercio, MD
  Hematology/Oncology Fellow
  Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

  Palm Beach New Discoveries Young Investigator Award
  Relationship of Circulating Tumor DNA in Patients with Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer to Pathologic Staging and Disease Prognosis
  Benjamin Miron, MD
  Medical Oncology Fellow
  Fox Chase Cancer Center

  New Discoveries Young Investigator Award
  Defining the Clinical Impact and Molecular Drivers of “Secondary” Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer
  Eugene Pietzak, MD
  Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

   

• 2020 Young Investigator Awardees

  The BCAN New Discoveries Young Investigator Awards
  Defining NRF2 induced tumor invasion in bladder cancer
  Yuki Kita, M.D., Ph.D.University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  The BCAN New Discoveries Young Investigators Award
  Targeting regulatory B cells (Bregs) to improve anti-bladder cancer immunity
  Burles (Rusty) Johnson, M.D., Ph.D.
  Johns Hopkins University

  The BCAN New Discoveries Research Young Investigator Awards for Patient Centered Clinical Research
  Identifying Patient and Providers Factors Associated with Smoking Cessation
  Matthew Mossanen, M.D., MPH
  Brigham & Women’s Hospital

   

   

• 2019 Young Investigator Awardees

  The 2019 BCAN New Discoveries Young Investigator Award
  Recombinant CCL2 as a Novel Treatment Strategy for Bladder Cancer
  Neelam Mukherjee, MD
  University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio

  The 2019 BCAN New Discoveries Young Investigator Award
  Quantifying Risk and Resilience Among Patients with Bladder Cancer: A Novel Personalized, Comprehensive Risk Stratification Program
  Sarah Psutka, MD, MsC
  University of Washington, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

  The BCAN New Discoveries Research Young Investigator Awards for Patient Centered Clinical Research
  Understanding the Burden and Impact of Financial Toxicity in Bladder Cancer—A Mixed Methods Study of Two Diverse Patient Populations
  Sumeet Bhanvadia, MD
  University of Southern California

• 2018 Young Investigator Awardees

  The 2018 BCAN Young Investigator Award
  Next-generation sequencing to enhance initial staging and dynamically monitor disease response in upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC)
  Philip Abbosh, MD, PhD
  Fox Chase Cancer Center

  The Palm Beach New Discoveries Young Investigators Award
  Modulation of regulatory T cells in the bladder tumor environment by anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy
  David Oh, MD, PhD
  University of California, San Francisco

  The Palm Beach New Discoveries Young Investigator Award for Patient Centered Clinical Research
  The implementation of nutrition education videos for patients undergoing radical cystectomy
  Eugene Lee, MD
  University of Kansas Medical Center

• 2017 Young Investigator Awardees

  The JPB Foundation Young Investigator Award
  Ascertaining the Role of Mutations in COMPASS-like Complex Members in the Development of Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma
  Byron Lee, MD, PhD
  Assistant Professor
  Cleveland Clinic Foundation

  Stephen Hale Gushée Young Investigator Award
  Defining the Immune Response to Chemotherapy and Chemo-Immunotherapy in Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer
  Tracy Rose, MD, MPH
  Assistant Professor
  UNC Chapel Hill

• 2016 Young Investigator Awardees

  The JPB Foundation Young Investigator Award
  Role of antigen-specific immunity in BCG therapy for bladder cancer
  Niannian Ji, PhD
  University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

  Stephen Hale Gushée Young Investigator Award
  Identifying Genomic Determinants of Chemoradiotherapy Response in Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer
  Kent William Mouw, MD, PhD
  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

• 2015 Young Investigator Awardee

  Stephen Hale Gushée Young Investigator Award
  The Role of TP63 and ATDC in Invasive Bladder Cancers
  Philip Palmbos, MD, PhD
  Clinical Lecturer
  University of Michigan Health

• 2014 Young Investigator Awardees

  BCAN Young Investigator Award
  The Role, Relationship and Therapeutic Potential of HAS2 and AGL in Bladder Cancer
  Sunny Guin, PhD
  Postdoctoral Fellow
  University of Colorado at Denver

  The JPB Foundation Young Investigator Award
  Consequences of ARID1A Inactivation in Bladder Cancer
  Ryoichi Saito, MD, PhD
  Research Associate
  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  The JPB Foundation Young Investigator Award
  Defining Immunotherapy Targets in Bladder Cancer Microenvironment Using Oncolytic Viruses
  Dmitriy Zamarin, MD, PhD
  Hematology/Oncology Fellow
  Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

• 2013 Young Investigator Awardees

  BCAN Young Investigator Award
  Transcriptional Control of Bladder Cancer Tumorigenesis
  David DeGraff, PhD
  Postdoctoral Fellow
  Vanderbilt University Medical Center

  James Family Young Investigator Award
  Identifying Predictors of Response to mTOR-targeted Therapies in Bladder Cancer
  Gopa Iyer, MD
  Clinical Instructor
  Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

  Raymond and Marie Floyd Family Young Investigator Award
  High resolution molecular analysis of CD47-mediated immune escape in bladder cancer
  Debashis Sahoo, PhD
  Instructor
  Stanford University