UNC Urology Researchers’ Abstract Selected for the AUA2023 Annual Meeting Press Program

A team of UNC researchers’ work has earned them a coveted spot in the American Urological Association’s (AUA) 2023 Annual Meeting Press Program.

The group includes Hannah E. Kay, MD, UNC Urology 2^nd Year Resident; Sarah Silver, UNC Med Student – Class of ’23; Ram Basak, PhD, Research Associate and Biostatistician, UNC Urology; Kimberly Shoenbill, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, UNC Family Medicine; Deborah Usinger, Research Project Manager, UNC Urology; Adam Goldstein, MD, MPH, Director, UNC Tobacco Intervention Programs; Angela Smith, MD, MS, Professor, UNC Urology; Richard S. Matulewicz, MD, MS, Urologic Oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Ronald C. Chen, MD, MPH, Chair, Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas School of Medicine; and Marc A. Bjurlin, DO, MSc, Associate Professor, UNC Urology.

Their research abstract, titled “Impact of Smoking on Longitudinal Health-Related Quality of Life Measures Among Bladder Cancer Survivors,” has been selected from about 3,000 submissions for the Annual Meeting’s Press Program.

The AUA’s 2023 Annual Meeting is a highly anticipated event for researchers and urologists, and being selected for the Press Program is a great honor. Only 25 abstracts were selected for this year’s program, and the group’s research was chosen as “a perfect fit” for the “Environmental Exposures and Bladder Cancer” category. Dr. Hannah Kay will represent the group and present their findings to the press/news media at the Annual Meeting in November 2023.

The group’s research is significant because it addresses the impact of cigarette smoking on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures in bladder cancer patients, which has not been extensively studied before.

The team’s research is an important step towards improving the lives of bladder cancer patients and reducing the impact of smoking on health-related quality of life.