Collaborating for the Advancement of Interdisciplinary Research in Benign Urology

View as Webpage

KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST RESEARCH

CAIRIBU Uro-Lit Live: a new virtual series

Talk with authors of recent urology research publications. Hear them discuss their methods, results, and implications. Collaboratively discuss and strategize how to best address knowledge gaps that advance urologic research and address public health.

Tune into these monthly virtual discussions. NO NEED to read the papers in advance, but we'll provide the links in case you want to do so.

These forums will promote discussion. Ask the authors questions and provide feedback. We will feature a different research topic each month. Future topics will include: effects of aging in the lower urinary tract, infection, urobiome, urinary incontinence, innate immunity in the urinary tract, and more. See below for information about the kick-off Uro-Lit Live event.

AUGUST TOPIC IS BPH

THURSDAY, AUGUST 28

12:00 PM Eastern (11 AM Central | 9 AM Pacific)

Zoom link available HERE

Paper #1: Infiltrating lipid-rich macrophage subpopulations identified as a regulator of increasing prostate size in human benign prostatic hyperplasia

Paper #2: TIAM1 drives prostatic branching phenotype and is a potential therapeutic target for benign prostatic hyperplasia

CAIRIBU MEETING ABSTRACTS

Ready, Set, Write, Submit

WHO: Trainees & early-stage investigators (within 10 years of terminal degree)

WHAT: Submit abstracts for the annual meeting

WHY: Share your science, network, gain visibility in the research community

WHEN: Deadline Monday, October 13, 2025

WHERE: Submit online, preparation & submission info available:

• "Best Abstracts" selected for oral presentations

• All abstracts reviewed; evaluations available to trainees

• "Best Posters" will be awarded during the meeting



• Abstract and poster prizes available

DECEMBER 3-5, 2025

The 8th annual CAIRIBU meeting is held in Madison, WI on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The meeting begins Wednesday morning with a trainee-focused pre-meeting and continues through Friday, December 5. ALL collaborative-minded investigators are invited to participate in the meeting.

• VIEW MEETING OUTLINE

• REGISTER NOW!!! (registration includes meals)



• RESERVE LODGING NOW!!! Use the booking links to reserve rooms at the fabulously-low nightly rates negotiated by the CAIRIBU Interactions Core. You must reserve by Nov. 11 at the latest.

The CAIRIBU Community grew out of the NIDDK Urology Centers Research Program, consisting primarily of the George M. O'Brien Urology Cooperative Research Centers and K12 Urology Research Career Development Programs. The Urology P20 Centers later became part of the CAIRIBU Community. Annual meetings are organized by the CAIRIBU Interactions Core and bring together CAIRIBU Community trainees and investigators and others engaged in urology and urogenital research. This is a fun and welcoming meeting. Hear from investigators involved in all kinds of urology research. Participate in structured and unstructured networking opportunities. Visit trainees' posters; last year >50 posters were presented!

UPDATE ON NIH BUDGET

In this, the 75th anniversary year of the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the Senate Appropriations Committee on 7/31/2025 rejected the current administration’s proposed 40% funding cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In doing so, the Senate advanced a proposal to INCREASE the NIH budget by $400 million for fiscal year 2026 and REJECTED a proposal to collapse the 27 NIH institutes into only 8.

Other good news for research:

1. The Committee reversed a prior White House block on NIH spending, now allowing it to spend its full 2025 budget.
2. The Committee rejected the Administration's plan to cap institutional indirect costs at 15%.

To follow these events and future Congressional decisions, good sources include:

• The US Senate Committee on Appropriations website at https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/
• Nature at https://www.nature.com/news
• Science at https://www.science.org/
• Inside Higher Ed at https://www.insidehighered.com/

IC/BPS GLOBAL CONSENSUS MEETING

The complete recorded proceedings of the April 2025 IC/BPS Global Consensus meeting at Wake Forest University are now available on the CAIRIBU YouTube channel. The CAIRIBU Interactions Core will also feature one of the meeting organizers, Stephen Walker, PhD (Professor of Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem) in a virtual "CAIRIBU Connections" seminar on September 17. More info and Zoom link to join available HERE.

In 6 videos, the CAIRIBU YouTube recordings capture presentations on:

• Diagnostic criteria | Patient phenotyping
• IC/BPS in males | Role of gynecologic findings in IC
• Genomics and histopathology in IC | Etiopathology | IC/BPS therapeutics
• PROs and other outcomes | IC/BPS registry or central data site
• Patient advocacy challenges | Guidelines vs. consensus | IC/BPS research aims
• Role of industry and innovation | Final sub-committee presentations

Access additional information about the meeting, the meeting program, and organizing committee members HERE. At least 7 review articles from the consensus meeting are are available in PubMed, several in which CAIRIBU-affiliated investigators were involved:

Wolff et al | Sullivan et al | Snipes et al | Mezes et al

Hayes et al | Werneburg et al | Ruetten et al

CAIRIBU TRAINEE NEWS

The CAIRIBU Interactions Core brings you a trainee- and early-stage investigator-focused newsletter. Requested by CAIRIBU trainees, we are currently aiming for quarterly publication. But if popular, it will occur more frequently. Regular features will include:

... Ask a NIDDK Program Officer

... Ask a Postdoc

... Ask a PI

... Ask a Team Scientist

NEXT ISSUE OUT IN OCTOBER 2025

Chris Mullins, PhD

Program Director, Division of Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Dr. Mullins provides a brief history of NIDDK Urology Research Program accomplishments.

Hannah Ruetten, DVM, PhD

Posdoctoral fellow in Comparative Medicine, Wake Forest University

Hannah answers the question, "How do you manage work-life balance, especially with the uncertainty of postdoc life?"

Chad Vezina, PhD

Professor and Chairman, Department of Comparative Biosciences, University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine

Chad answers the question, "Does a PI ever have to leave academia due to funding gaps?"

CAIRIBU COMPASS

The CAIRIBU Compass is an online, non-refereed journal of and for the CAIRIBU Community. Primary goal is to support the broader urology research community and raise the visibility of urology research.

NEXT ISSUE OUT SEPT/OCT 2025

Professional but informal, academic yet accessible, appropriate for works-in-progress and not-ready-for-prime-time research content. Commentaries and opinion pieces are also welcome.

The July issue is available - click button above. Also available on the CAIRIBU website. Articles in this Compass include:

• Synopsis of the Feb 2025 CAIRIBU Urobiome Research Interest Group knowledge exchange (featuring Kymora Scotland, PhD, MD and Jashkiran Gadhvi, PhD)
• Abstracts by trainees and early-stage investigators at the April 2025 American Urological Association meeting (Matthew Grimes, MD; Marcela Ambrogi, PhD; Vinaya Bhatia, MD; and Golena Fernandez Moncaleano, MD)
• Abstracts presented by Duke University K12 KURe Scholars at the April 2025 Duke University Multidisciplinary Benign Urology Research Symposium (Bin Ni, MD, PhD and Natasha Wilkins, PhD)
• Metrics related to CAIRIBU Interactions Core impact and engagement over the past year (Mariana Coughlin, MS and Kristina Penniston, PhD)

=============================================================================

Check out the April 2025 issue of the CAIRIBU Compass HERE

=============================================================================

YOUR abstract, description of a sharable resource, commentary, or article could be featured in future issues; contact the CAIRIBU Interactions Core to find out more

CAIRIBU PHONE APP

PHASE 2 TESTING COMING

THANK YOU to those of you who provided feedback on the first iteration of the CAIRIBU phone app. Led by UW-Madison undergraduate student and CAIRIBU Interactions Core student research assistant Edison Chiu, this app will allow you easy access to upcoming events in the urology research community, links to meeting registration sites, links to CAIRIBU Community virtual events, and more. The app will also feature an "opt in" ability to push out timely notices as well as chat and messaging features. We anticipate the app will also provide an opportunity for networking, communicating with colleagues and collaborators, and information-sharing.

PHASE 2 APP TESTERS ARE NEEDED

Let us know by Monday, Aug. 11 if you will help by emailing CAIRIBU@urology.wisc.edu.

The first dozen volunteers will be accepted. After testing and modifications,

we will boldly roll out the app to the entire CAIRIBU Community and beyond!

RESEARCH FUNDING

American Urological Association Bridge Award for Urology Research

Notice about the award HERE

With support from the Dornier MedTech endowment, the AUA has launched an initiative to provide short-term funding support to researchers to help them sustain research funding and momentum for active projects. The initiative targets investigators whose research is at risk due to gaps between major grants, required post–peer review revisions, or unexpected laboratory setbacks. Two awards available annually. Watch for more details to come...

Innovative Science Accelerator Program

ISAC Awards

Seed funding for exceptionally innovative, disruptive (high-risk/high-reward) research relevant to the Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Research Communities is available. Proposals should demonstrate potential to lead to groundbreaking or paradigm-shifting results that will change the field. Pilot and feasibility projects are NOT allowed. 3-page applications may request up to $100,000 (direct + indirect) for 1 year. Next submission deadline is 9/17/2025.

Small Grant Program for NIDDK K01/K08/K23/K25 Recipients

PAR-25-091

This is a limited-competition program that provides NIDDK-supported K01, K08, K23, and K25 recipients the opportunity to apply for Small Grant (R03) support during the latter years of their K awards. Through this mechanism, the NIDDK seeks to enhance the capability of these award recipients to conduct research as they complete their transition to fully independent investigator status. The R03 grant mechanism supports pilot and feasibility studies; secondary analyses of existing data; small, self-contained research projects; development of research methodology; and development of new research technology. (Posted 1/10/2025)

Small R01s for Clinical Trials Targeting Diseases in the NIDDK Mission

PAS-23-086 (reissue)

This NOFO encourages submission of pilot and feasibility clinical trials conducted in humans that will lay the foundation for larger clinical trials related to the prevention and/or treatment of diseases and conditions within the mission of NIDDK. Small, short-term, proof-of-concept clinical trials to acquire preliminary data regarding the effects of the intervention as well as feasibility data related to recruitment and retention are supported. (Reissue date 3/31/2025)

Notice of Continued Eligibility for Career Development Awards

NOT-OD-25-115

NIH is granting a temporary exception to the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 12.3.7 to allow individuals whose mentored career development awards prematurely ended on or after January 1, 2025 to be eligible to apply for a new mentored career development award, contingent on meeting all other eligibility requirements. This exception is effective immediately and will remain in effect until July 31, 2026. (Release date 5/28/2025)

CAIRIBU OUTREACH

CAIRIBU outreach is broad and includes trainees and investigators from all over the US as well as department chairs (urology, nephrology, urogynecology) and NIDDK Program Officers. While the CAIRIBU Community is a global community, the US is the center of CAIRIBU activities. See below for a map of institutions at which individuals who receive CAIRIBU communications are located.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT UROLOGY RESEARCH

SUPPORTING AND ENCOURAGING THE GROWTH OF THE UROLOGY RESEARCH PIPELINE

Undergraduate students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Stanford University, and Columbia University participated this summer in mentored research. Students were mentored by Urology O'Brien Center leaders and other investigators at these institutions. Nearly 20 students presented their research in a live, virtual CAIRIBU-hosted research jamboree. Check out their abstracts:

CAIRIBU YouTube Playlists are "channels" that correspond to specific research interests

CAIRIBU Interactions Core staff recently categorized all CAIRIBU YouTube content by specific area within the lower urinary tract (currently at 125 videos!). Now you may quickly find recordings in which you are most interested (e.g., bladder, prostate, infection, IC/BPS, kidney stones, etc.). Content related to trainees is also categorized. Look HERE.

Kristina L. Penniston, PhD, RD

PI, CAIRIBU U24 Interactions Core

(U24-DK127726)

penn@urology.wisc.edu

Dept. of Urology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI

Links to websites for current CAIRIBU Centers and Programs are on the CAIRIBU website HERE