Congratulations to Dr. Ibardo A. Zambrano who has been selected to receive one of 2022’s prestigious Pope Clinical Trainee Awards.
Dr. Zambrano joins a distinguished list of UNC Urology Program alumni including current faculty members Angela Smith, MD, MS and David Johnson, MD, MPH in 2012 and 2014 respectively and Pauline Filippou, MD in 2019.
Supported by the John William Pope Foundation, awardees are named by the University of North Carolina’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center with nominations voted on by all Department Chairs and Division Chiefs of cancer-related clinical and research areas.
The Pope Clinical Trainee Award is designed to honor emerging physician-researchers for excellence, accomplishment, and dedication to cancer research and clinical care.
“I have had the privilege to complete my training at UNC under the mentorship of stellar surgeons, clinicians and researchers who take great joy and pride in taking care of patients with all urologic cancers. I am forever grateful, and this award means a lot to me as it also recognizes the unconditional effort and support my mentors gave me to launch new projects here and beyond.”
Ibardo Zambrano, MD, MS
Urologic Oncology Fellow
About Dr. Zambrano’s Research
Dr. Zambrano focused on several bladder and kidney cancer projects as the inaugural Society of Urologic Oncology fellow at UNC. His main research focus under the mentorship of Drs William Kim (Medical Oncology) and Marc Bjurlin (Urology) was evaluating the carcinogenic effects of electronic cigarettes on the bladder urothelium using mouse models. He was given grant support for this research through the NCI’s GMaP R1S Stimulus Award and data was recently showcased at a podium presentation at the 2021 American Urological Association Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.
About The Pope Foundation
The awards, supported by the John William Pope Foundation, are given to emerging physician-scientists in-training based on their excellence in research and clinical oncology practice.
The Pope Foundation endows the Clinical Trainee Awards through a gift made in 2014 designed to help recruit, educate and train future oncologists.