2012 Raymond and Maria Floyd Award
for Bladder Cancer Research

BCAN announced on Wednesday, May 16, that Dr. Ami S. Bhatt of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Broad Institute has been named the 2012 recipient of the Raymond and Maria Floyd Award for Bladder Cancer Research. We would like to thank the many strong applicants from which Dr. Bhatt’s proposal was chosen, as well as the tireless members of our award review committee.

The $25,000 award will help support Dt. Bhatt’s research project to identify a bacteria or virus that may trigger bladder cancer. While environmental factors such as tobacco smoke and infections by parasites are known to cause the disease, in many bladder cancers the cause is unknown. Viruses, such as HPV, are now known to cause certain cancers such as cervical cancer. As a result, vaccines against HPV are now available and are predicted to save lives worldwide. Dr. Bhatt’s goal is to identify a viral or bacterial connection so that a similar prevention strategy can be developed for bladder cancer.

Dr. Bhatt is an honors graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles where she majored in biochemistry. She received her medical training and doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California, San Francisco, completing her graduate training in the laboratory of Dr. Charles Craik. Dr. Bhatt graduated from the UCSF in 2007 and completed her Internal Medicine Residency at the Harvard Medical School affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital followed by a fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer Center.

Dr. Bhatt plans to pursue a career as a translational investigator, focusing her future research activities on cancer genomics and the discovery of novel microbial pathogens in human cancer.

The purpose of this $25,000 grant is to advance research that will increase the understanding of bladder cancer risk, biology, prevention, and treatment while encouraging young investigators to pursue a career in bladder cancer research. The grant period will begin on July 15, 2012. The grant recipient will be expected to present results at BCAN’s annual Bladder Cancer Think Tank Meeting in August, 2013.

The award was granted on the basis of reviews and input from our review committee, chaired by Dr. Mark Gonzalgo, Stanford, and including Dr. Hikmat Al-Ahmadie, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Dr. Ronald Chen, University of North Carolina; Dr. Tom Flaig, University of Colorado; Dr. Noah Hahn, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; Dr. Teresa Koppie,Oregon Health and Science University; Dr. David Latini, VA Health Systems; Dr. David McConkey, MD Anderson Cancer Center; Dr. George Netto, Johns Hopkins; Dr. Patty Parker, MD Anderson Cancer Center; and Dr. Norm Smith, University of Chicago.

Past Award Recipients

The 2011 Raymond and Maria Floyd Award was presented to Dr. Gil Redelman-Sidi, a research fellow at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The first BCAN Award for Bladder Cancer Research was presented in 2010 to Dr. Elizabeth Guancial, a Fellow in the Dana Farber / Partners Cancer Care Hematology / Oncology program in Boston. Learn more about their research.

Please contact BCAN if you have any questions. You can reach us at grants@bcan.org.