IKCC Awards and Grants
The Cecile and Ken Youner IKCC Scholarship
The Cecile and Ken Youner IKCC Scholarship was established in 2019 to honour Dr Ken Youner, the Emeritus Board member who helped establish IKCC. The scholarship is awarded annually to a student (undergraduate, graduate, resident or fellow) nominated by a member of the IKCC Medical Advisory Board who is or intends to become a clinician or an allied healthcare professional and is interested in the field of kidney cancer.
The winner of the Cecile and Ken Youner IKCC Scholarship is awarded a travel grant to attend the IKCC Global Kidney Cancer Summit creating an opportunity for this future leader to experience patient engagement and activation in the hope it will be embraced in their medical practice and ethos going forward.
2026 Winners
Given the strong calibre of applications received, two joint recipients were selected in 2026.
Dr Paola Ines Valdez Sandoval (MX) was awareded the prize for her work on Sex-based analysis of intermediate/poor-risk patients with papillary, chromophobe or unclassified histology.
Dr Zuhair Majeed (US) was awarded the prize for his “Code-to-Clinic” philosophy, focused on bridging the gap between complex data and bedside decision-making.
Past Winners
Dr Hatice Bölek of Türkiye was awarded the prize for her work on enhancing quality of life and symptom management in metastatic renal cell carcinoma through a web-based eHealth application.
Dr Wen Kong from the Shanghai Renji Hospital in China was awarded the prize for his work on novel treatment and imaging approaches for fumarate hydratase deficient kidney cancer.
Amanda Ikegami from the A.C. Camargo Cancer Centre in Brazil was awarded the prize for her work on the involvement of neutrophils – cells of the immune system – in the progression of renal cell carcinoma.
Dr Yuly Andrea Remolina Bonilla from the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubrian in Mexico was awarded the prize for her work on the existing healthcare system inequities in Mexico and its impact on survival outcomes in Mexican patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).
Dr Jesus Cendejas-Gomez, Society of Urologic Oncology accredited fellowship program of urologic oncology at University of Western Ontario, London, Canada presented his work on the evaluation of renal cell cancer care in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Charlotte Spencer from The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK was awarded the prize for her work on the characterisation of the histological appearance of genomic alterations in clear cell RCC, and harnessing machine learning to predict genetic mutations to ultimately predict patient outcomes.
Dr Elshad Hasanov from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, US was awarded the prize for his work on the molecular characterisation of RCC brain metastases from genomic features and nucleus sequencing and comparing them with other metastatic sites.
Dr Adriano Beserra from the A.C. Camargo Cancer Centre, São Paulo, Brazil was recognised for his work on developing patient-derived xenografts for renal cell carcinoma as an experimental model to study new kidney cancer treatment.
Dr Lewis Au, MD, FRACP, Clinical Research Fellow at the Renal & Melanoma Unit, Royal Marsden Hospital and Transitional Researcher at the Francis Crick Institute, London UK presented his work on ‘Liquid Biopsies in Renal Cell Carcinoma’ at the 2019 IKCC Global Kidney Cancer Summit.
The IKCC Allied Healthcare Professional Scholarship Award
The IKCC Allied Healthcare Professional Scholarship Award recognises and celebrates the work of allied healthcare professionals whose work significantly enhances the quality of life and care experience of kidney cancer patients. Allied healthcare professionals often spend more time with patients and carers than physicians. This allows them to build trust, actively listen to concerns, and identify unmet needs that arise between physician consultations.
This award includes specialised licensed professionals such as nurses, physiotherapists, psycho-oncologists, occupational therapists, dietitians, pharmacists, and social workers.
Recipients of the IKCC Allied Healthcare Professional Scholarship Award receive a travel grant to attend the IKCC Global Kidney Cancer Summit, where they will present their project to delegates, build their network, and engage with the global kidney cancer community.
2026 Recipients
Given the strong calibre of applications received, two joint recipients were selected:
Dr Helen Garcia-Llana (SP) received the award for her contribution to the empowerment of kidney cancer patients and the development of patient-centred initiatives.
Omogbeminiyi Ojole (NG) received the award for her work strengthening cancer care through patient navigation and the establishment of a satellite phlebotomy station at the National Hospital Abuja.