KCA Awards Program
Transforming Kidney Cancer Research
The Kidney Cancer Association has a long tradition of funding innovation in medical research. Since 1995, our research awards have advanced critical studies in immunotherapy, helped identify new mechanisms for tumor suppression, and shed light on rare forms of kidney cancer. Early funding propelled many talented researchers to become key opinion leaders in the field today. These achievements have cemented the KCA’s commitment to supporting groundbreaking research that benefits patients and families impacted by kidney cancer. Hear from more KCA Award recipients.
Award Categories:
Trailblazer Awards
$75,000
Any focus in kidney cancer accepted.
Focus Awards
$75,000
Specific research focus required.
Trailblazer Awards – $75,000
Any focus in kidney cancer accepted
Pediatric Kidney Cancer Focus Awards – $75,000
In partnership with Joey’s Wings Foundation
Required Focus: Pediatric kidney cancer, specifically translocation RCC in the following ways:
- Comparative Analysis of Pediatric and Adult tRCC
- Develop methodologies to compare clinical and pathological characteristics of pediatric and adult tRCC.
- Investigate shared and distinct biological features and therapeutic responses between pediatric and adult tumors.
- Characterization of Fusion Targets in Pediatric tRCC Models
- Evaluate the robustness and reproducibility of existing pediatric tRCC models and propose strategies for model improvement.
- Explore the functional implications of distinct fusion events on disease biology in pediatric cases.
- Therapeutic Target Identification and Validation for Pediatric tRCC
- Perform focused drug screenings in patient-derived or engineered cell lines relevant to pediatric tRCC to identify new therapeutic vulnerabilities.
- Validate potential targets using robust in vitro and in vivo pediatric models.
Interdisciplinary Medicine Focus Awards – $75,000
In partnership with the Michael and Ina Korek Foundation
Required Focus: Explore the relationship between kidney cancer and various lifestyle factors. This includes, but is not limited to, nutrition, the gut microbiome, dietary habits, and physical activity. Proposals should aim to identify modifiable risk factors and develop preventive strategies or interventions that can be rapidly applied in clinical settings to aid in treatment or outcomes.
Additional Collaborative Funding Opportunities:
The KCA’s Award Program opens spring 2026.
Applications due by: Spring 2026
Award recipients will be notified: Summer 2026
Eligibility, submission guidelines, review process and additional information are available through the grant submission portal.
Submit questions to grants@kidneycancer.org
| Year | Award | Recipient | Institution | Project Title | Further Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Laura Bukavina | Cleveland Clinic Foundation | Assessing the presence and impact of micro- and nanoplastics role in renal cell carcinoma | Q&A |
| 2024 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Angela Cappello | University of Bari | Drugs resistance mechanisms guided by amino acids catabolism in ccRCC | Q&A |
| 2024 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Mitchell Thomas Hayes | H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Reasearch Institute | Tracing the seeds of progression: spatial transcriptomic analysis of immunoresistant kidney cancer | Q&A |
| 2024 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Yuexin Xu | Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center | Characterization of tumor-endothelial STAB1 mediated Treg recruitment into renal cancer carcinoma | Q&A |
| 2024 | Chromophobe RCC Focus Award | Dr. Elizabeth Ellis | University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | Evaluating the response of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma to novel targeted metabolic therapies | Q&A |
| 2024 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Kaushal Asrani | Johns Hopkins University | Therapeutic Targeting of EGFR and HER2 in Translocation Renal Cell Carcinoma | Q&A |
| 2023 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Shinji Otake | University of California, Los Angeles | Development of Models of NF2 Loss in Papillary and Unclassified Variant of Kidney Cancer | Q&A |
| 2023 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Niki Zacharias Millward | University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | Leveraging Patient-Derived Xenograft Models to Identify and Therapeutically Target Metabolic Hallmarks of Chromophobe Renal Cell Carcinoma | Video Q&A |
| 2023 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Rana McKay | University of California, San Diego | Dissecting Predictors of Response to Immunotheraphy in Patients with Renal Cell Carcinoma | |
| 2023 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Prateek Khanna | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | Therapeutic Targeting of Cell Surface Antigens in Translocation Renal Cell Carcinoma | |
| 2023 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Brendan Guercio | University of California, San Diego | Associations of diet with the gut microbiome among patients with advanced/metastatic renal cell cancer (mRCC) receiving immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) | |
| 2023 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Marie Carlo | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center | Role of Germline and Somatic Variants in NRF2 Pathway Genes in Renal Cell Carcinoma | Video Q&A |
| 2022 | Psychosocial Focus Award | Dr. Erin Tagai | Fox Chase Cancer Center | Improving Patient-Reported Outcomes for Renal Cancer Patients on Active Surveillance | |
| 2022 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Yufei Wang | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | Design of CAIX Targeted Fine-Tuned Immune Restoring Safe (FIS) CAR-T Cell Therapy for Metastatic Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (mccRCC) | Publication: Molecular Cancer |
| 2022 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Srinivasan Viswanathan | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | Advancing a Cell Surface Therapeutic Target in Translocation Renal Cell Carcinoma | Video Q&A Publication: Hematology/Oncology Clinics of North America |
| 2022 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Pooja Ghatalia | Fox Chase Cancer Center | Comparison of Immune Microenvironment between Patients of African and European Ancestry with Renal Cell Carcinoma | Publication: Journal of Clinical Oncology |
| 2022 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. Nazli Dizman | Yale School of Medicine | Impact of CBM588 on metabolomic profile in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) | Publication: Journal of Clinical Oncology |
| 2022 | Trailblazer Award | Dr. David Braun | Yale School of Medicine | Dissecting the immunobiology of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma using single-cell transcriptomics | Video Q&A |
| 2021 | Advanced Discovery Award | Dr. Pavlos Msaouel | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | Identification of Tumor Frameshift Neoantigens to Accurately Predict Response to Immune Checkpoint Therapy in Renal Cell Carcinoma | Video Q&A Publication: Clinical Cancer Research |
| 2021 | Advanced Discovery Award | Dr. Jianjun Gao | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | Identification of Tumor Frameshift Neoantigens to Accurately Predict Response to Immune Checkpoint Therapy in Renal Cell Carcinoma | |
| 2021 | Advanced Discovery Award | Dr. Toni Choueiri | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | Adoptive cytokine-induced memory-like NK cell therapy alone or in combination with avelumab for immunotherapy-refractory advanced renal cell carcinoma | |
| 2021 | Advanced Discovery Award | Dr. Rizwan Romee | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | Adoptive cytokine-induced memory-like NK cell therapy alone or in combination with avelumab for immunotherapy-refractory advanced renal cell carcinoma | |
| 2021 | Psychosocial Focus Award | Dr. Christiane Bergerot | Instituto Unity de Ensino e Pesquisa, Centro De Cancer De Brasilia | Redefining Quality of Life Assessments in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma | Q&A Publication: Journal of Clinical Oncology Publication: The Oncologist |
| 2021 | Young Investigator Award | Dr. Yuexin Xu | Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center | Transcriptomic single-cell and spatial mapping of immune cell infiltration and tumor-associated endothelial cell heterogeneity in renal cell carcinoma | |
| 2021 | Young Investigator Award | Dr. Nirmish Singla | Johns Hopkins University | Tumor Evolution of Brain-Specific Tropism in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma | |
| 2021 | Young Investigator Award | Dr. Eric C. Kauffman | Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center | Impact of CBM588 on metabolomic profile in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) | |
| 2021 | Young Investigator Award | Dr. Elshad Hasanov | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | Investigating genomic drivers of immune checkpoint inhibitors resistance in RCC brain metastasis: implications for immunotherapy | Video Q&A Publication: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians |
| 2020 | Advanced Discovery Award | Dr. Brian Shuch | University of California, Los Angeles | Targeting asparagine dependence in renal cell cancer | Q&A |
| 2020 | Advanced Discovery Award | Dr. Heather Christofk | University of California, Los Angeles | Targeting asparagine dependence in renal cell cancer | Q&A Publication: Cancer Discovery |
| 2020 | Young Investigator Award | Dr. Ritesh R. Kotecha | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center | HLA Evolutionary Diversity – A Population Specific Biomarker for Kidney Cancer Immunotherapy | Video Q&A Publication: Molecular Cancer Research |
| 2020 | Young Investigator Award | Dr. Frank M. Mason | Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Therapeutic Vulnerability of SETD2 mutant RCC | Video Q&A |
| 2020 | Young Investigator Award | Dr. Brandon Manley | H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institutue, Inc | Investigation of the Aberrant Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Splicing Proteome to Determine Drug Repurposing Strategies for ccRCC | Video Q&A Publication: European Urology |
| 2020 | Young Investigator Award | Dr. Chiara Di Malta | Telethon Institute of Genetic and Medicine, Pozzuoli, Italy | Exploiting the potential of MiT/TFE factors inhibition to treat inherited kidney cancers | Publication: EMBO Molecular Medicine |
| 2019 | Advanced Discovery Award | Dr. Eric Jonasch | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | S-phase DNA damage response links genomic instability mechanisms to anti-tumor immunity in renal cell carcinoma | Q&A Video Q&A |
| 2019 | Advanced Discovery Award | Dr. Guang Peng | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | S-phase DNA damage response links genomic instability mechanisms to anti-tumor immunity in renal cell carcinoma | Q&A |
| 2019 | Advanced Discovery Award | Dr. Rupal S. Bhatt | Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center | HHLA2/KIR3DL3 as a novel therapeutic immune checkpoint pathway in renal cancer | |
| 2019 | Advanced Discovery Award | Dr. Gordon J. Freeman | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | HHLA2/KIR3DL3 as a novel therapeutic immune checkpoint pathway in renal cancer | |
| 2019 | Advanced Discovery Award | Dr. Kathleen M. Mahoney | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center | HHLA2/KIR3DL3 as a novel therapeutic immune checkpoint pathway in renal cancer | Publication: Molecular Cancer Research |
| 2019 | Young Investigator Award | Dr. Tian Zhang | Duke Cancer Institute | Immune correlates of immunotherapy responses in renal cell carcinoma | Video Q&A |
| 2019 | Young Investigator Award | Dr. Ed Reznik | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center | Metabolic determinants of the tumor microenvironment and sensitivity to immunotherapy in ccRCC | Publication: Cell Metabolism |
| 2019 | Young Investigator Award | Dr. Akash Kumar Kaushik | University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center | In vivo glutamine metabolism in VHL and FH mutant renal cell carcinoma | Publication: Science Advances |
| 2019 | Young Investigator Award | Dr. Scott Haake | Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Endogenous retrovirus expression drives immunogenicity of papillary renal cell carcinoma | Video Q&A |