Mount Sinai’s Natasha Kyprianou, MBBS, PhD, to Receive American Urological Association’s Richard D. Williams, MD, Prostate Cancer Research Excellence Award

Mount Sinai researcher Natasha Kyprianou, MBBS, PhD, a leading expert on prostate, bladder, and kidney cancer, has been awarded the Richard D. Williams, MD, Prostate Cancer Research Excellence Award by the Urology Care Foundation, the world’s leading nonprofit urological health foundation and official foundation of the American Urological Association (AUA). Dr. Kyprianou is the first woman to receive this award.

The Urology Care Foundation’s 2022 Research Awards of Distinction acknowledge outstanding contributions to urology research, specifically in pediatrics and prostate cancer, and recognize the accomplishments of previous Urology Care Foundation awardees, the dedication of exemplary research mentors, and the efforts of talented early-career scholars.

Established in 2013, the Richard D. Williams, MD, Prostate Cancer Research Excellence Award is named in honor of the late urologist, scientist, mentor, and humanitarian and is made possible through a fund established by his wife, Beverly Williams. The Williams Award is presented annually to recognize outstanding and impactful research in the field of prostate cancer over the previous 10 years.

“It is incredibly humbling to receive this award honoring the legacy of one of my heroes in Urology, Dr. Richard Williams,” said Dr. Kyprianou, who is Professor of Urology, Oncological Sciences, and Pathology, Molecular, and Cell-Based Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “Knowing that my work on understanding mechanisms of therapeutic cross-resistance between taxane-based chemotherapy and antiandrogens is impacting the clinical management of patients with prostate cancer is a distinct privilege. Dr. Williams was a tremendously inspirational figure who fueled my passion for discovery of therapeutic strategies to overcome lethal prostate cancer. This award is one of the most wonderful honors of my life and a remarkable reminder that we must keep on fighting for the high cause and save lives of men suffering with prostate cancer.”

Dr. Kyprianou is a translational researcher in urologic oncology with expertise in the pathobiology of prostate, bladder, and kidney cancer, with a specific focus on dissecting mechanisms of therapeutic resistance in advanced lethal disease. Pioneering studies by Dr. Kyprianou’s team first established the novel effect of microtubule-targeting chemotherapy on the localization of the androgen receptor (AR) and activity in prostate cancer, enabling a novel insight into therapeutic cross-resistance. This paradigm shift evidence fueled a new direction of investigations in therapeutic targeting of AR by taxane-based chemotherapies.

“Dr. Kyprianou is an excellent scientist and a brilliant prostate cancer researcher who has focused her career on a prostate cancer cure,” said Ash Tewari, MBBS, MCh, Chair of Urology at the Mount Sinai Health System and the Kyung Hyun Kim, MD Professor of Urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “We are very fortunate to work with her and are grateful for her drive to help men with lethal prostate cancer.”

"We're proud to recognize this year's Urology Care Foundation Research Awardees," said Harris M. Nagler, MD, Urology Care Foundation President. "A major component of the Foundation's mission is to support and improve urological care by funding research, and these awardees exemplify that mission through their outstanding contributions to the field of urology."

Dr. Kyprianou will receive the award at the annual AUA meeting in New Orleans on Saturday, May 14.

About the Urology Care Foundation

The Urology Care Foundation is the world's leading nonprofit urological health foundation, and the official foundation of the American Urological Association. Collaborating with physicians, researchers, patients and the public, the Foundation supports and improves urologic clinical care by funding research, developing patient education and pursuing philanthropic support. To learn more about the Urology Care Foundation and its programs visit: www.urologyhealth.org.

About the American Urological Association

Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 23,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy. www.AUAnet.org.