Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network Awards $6,000 in Fellowships to Young Scientists Committed to Improving Bladder Cancer Research

BETHESDA, Md., June 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN) has awarded four young scientists with The John Quale Travel Fellowship.

The John Quale Travel Fellowship, $1,500 per recipient, allows four early career scientists the opportunity to participate in BCAN's Bladder Cancer Think Tank, an invitation-only scientific meeting which focuses on creating opportunities for collaboration among scientists, researchers, practitioners, advocates, and industry partners to identify obstacles and create solutions for the treatment, and eventual cure, of bladder cancer.

While in attendance of the Bladder Cancer Think Tank, Fellowship recipients will have the unique opportunity to present novel research approaches in bladder cancer to distinguished medical experts.

The John Quale Travel Fellowship recipients include:

• Richard Bambury, MB, BCh, BAO, an advanced oncology fellow at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center;
• Sima Porten, MD, MPH a urologic oncology fellow at the MD Anderson Cancer Center;
• Srinivas Vourganti, MD a clinical fellow in the Urologic Oncology Branch of the National Cancer Institute; and
• Daniel Willis, MD a urologic oncology fellow at the MD Anderson Cancer Center

"Research in bladder cancer is woefully underfunded, with no new treatments introduced in more than 20 years. We are incredibly grateful to offer these talented new researchers the opportunity to gather with a multidisciplinary group of clinicians, scientists, lay advocates and industry partners to focus on collaborative projects in bladder cancer research," said BCAN Co-founder and President, Diane Zipursky Quale.

BCAN's Bladder Cancer Think Tank is the only annual meeting of its kind, convening a multidisciplinary group of stakeholders to collaborate on projects specific to bladder cancer and finding a cure.

Each year, thousands of Americans die from bladder cancer, but still there is little awareness of this devastating disease. BCAN is on the front-lines advocating for greater public awareness and funding research that will identify and deliver a cure for bladder cancer through programs like The John Quale Travel Fellowship Award.                                                                        

About the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network
Founded in 2005, the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN) is the only national organization devoted to advancing bladder cancer research and supporting those touched by the disease. Through a comprehensive program of research, education and advocacy, BCAN is the leading voice for bladder cancer. For more information, visit www.bcan.org.

SOURCE Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network