UT Health Sciences News: One Conversation Led to a $225,000 Cancer Research Award. This Year’s Conference Could Lead to the Next

When Kondapa Naidu Bobba, PhD, walked into the Tennessee Statewide Cancer Collaborative Scientific Meeting led by the University of Tennessee Health Sciences in Nashville last year, he didn't know the conversations he'd have there would help reshape the direction of his research and ultimately help secure a $225,000 award to fight prostate cancer.

Dr. Bobba, assistant professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, was selected earlier this year to receive the 2026 Young Investigator Award, a prestigious honor jointly supported by the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI).

The collaboration that helped make the award possible began at last year's statewide meeting. Now, as UT Health Sciences prepares to host the 2nd Annual Tennessee Statewide Cancer Collaborative Scientific Meeting on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, 2026, at the Hutton Hotel in Nashville, organizers are hoping this year's attendees will form the next research partnership that leads to a breakthrough.

Read more on the UT Health Sciences News website.