Urology Care Foundation Announces 2025 Humanitarian Grant Recipients
BALTIMORE, July 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Urology Care Foundation, the world's leading nonprofit urological health foundation and the official foundation of the American Urological Association, is pleased to announce the 2025 Urology Care Foundation Humanitarian Grant recipients.
As one of the world's largest urology-specific humanitarian-focused grant programs, the Urology Care Foundation Humanitarian Grants aid the efforts of urologists and projects providing patient care and education in underserved areas, either within the United States or worldwide.
Congratulations to this year's grant recipients:
Bilal Chughtai, MD - Dr. Chughtai is chief of urology at Plainview Hospital and associate professor of urology at Northwell Health. He specializes in female pelvic medicine, reconstructive surgery and male voiding dysfunction, with a strong focus on clinical care, research and education. A prolific researcher, he has authored over 300 publications and leads numerous NIH- and industry-supported clinical trials.
Ketch Cowan, MD - Dr. Cowan is a urology resident at the University of Tennessee. He will be traveling to Gujarat, India, to provide urologic care through the Jeev Sewa Sansthan (JSS) organization. Working at one of the region’s only urologic teaching hospitals, Dr. Cowan will care for patients in rural communities with limited access to health care and support local surgeons through hands-on collaboration and shared surgical training. His work will focus on general, reconstructive and oncological urology.
Pankaj Dangle, MD, MBBS - Dr. Dangle is a board-certified pediatric urologist at Riley Hospital for Children and associate professor at Indiana University Health. He specializes in robotic surgery and complex genitourinary reconstructions, and is dedicated to compassionate, patient-centered care. Dr. Dangle follows the teachings of his grandfather and parents regarding community service and philanthropy. He travels to places around the world on medical missions to provide care and some of these locations have included India, Senegal, Ethiopia and Vietnam.
Robert J. Dray, MD - Dr. Dray is a retired urologist who practiced adult and pediatric urology at Ascension St. Thomas Medical Center in Tennessee for nearly four decades. He has been active in global medical missions since the 1990s, most recently supporting the development of a urology department at Mundakayam Medical Trust Hospital in Kerala, India. His ongoing efforts focus on mentoring and supporting local physicians to expand access to urologic care in underserved regions.
Harshit Garg, MBBS - Dr. Garg is a fellowship-trained uro-oncologist and robotic surgeon, leading the Uro-oncology & Robotic Surgery unit at Max Institute of Cancer Care, Vaishali. Trained at AIIMS Delhi and UT Health San Antonio, he has received numerous national and international awards for excellence in surgery, leadership and cancer care. Deeply committed to service, he provides free consultations in underserved regions and contributes actively to research, education and global urology training.
Eric T. Grossgold, MD - Captain Grossgold is a board-certified urologist and Navy flight surgeon with extensive experience in trauma and reconstructive urology. He has held numerous leadership roles in Navy medicine, including urology specialty leader and consultant to the Navy Surgeon General. Passionate about global health, he leads humanitarian surgical missions worldwide and serves on the boards of two nonprofit surgical organizations.
Stephanie Kielb, MD - Dr. Kielb is a professor of urology at the University of Michigan and a nationally recognized expert in female pelvic medicine, congenital urology and medical education. She previously spent over two decades at Northwestern University, where she led the urology residency program and developed innovative training models. Deeply committed to global health, she leads surgical missions in Rwanda and is building a urology residency exchange program with the Rwandan Urological Society.
Gitobu Mburugu, MBChB - Dr. Mburugu is a urologist at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya. He is the immediate past chair of the Kenya Association of Urological Surgeons (KAUS), and chair of the KAUS Conference and Surgical Outreach committee that organizes free surgical camps for patients in underserved areas of Kenya, a task he has been performing since 2018.
Thomas E. Moody, MD - Dr. Moody is a retired urologist and passionate advocate for prostate cancer awareness and screening in Alabama. He played a key role in securing state funding and legislation to expand access to prostate cancer testing, earning numerous honors including WebMD’s “Health Hero” and the University of Alabama’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. Though retired, he continues his work through the Urology Health Foundation.
Satyendra Persaud, MBBS - Dr. Persaud is a urologist based in Trinidad and Tobago, serving as a senior lecturer and residency director in urology at the University of the West Indies. His research focuses on urolithiasis and prostate cancer, and he is the immediate past president of the Caribbean Urological Association. With support from this grant, he will launch a urology nursing certificate program aimed at training dozens of local nurses, significantly enhancing the quality of urologic care across hospitals in the region.
Ryan Terlecki, MD - Dr. Terlecki is professor and vice chair of urology at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, where he also directs men’s health and male infertility. An internationally recognized expert in trauma, reconstructive and prosthetic urology, he founded and leads the Wake Forest GURS Fellowship. His research focuses on genitourinary wound healing, and he serves as CEO of the Society of Practical Urological Reconstruction.
Hannah Thomas, MBChB – Dr. Thomas is a urology resident at the University of Toronto. She is currently pursuing a PhD in health policy at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Stanford School of Medicine as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. She previously completed a Masters in Global Health Sciences from the University of California-San Francisco. A budding surgeon-investigator, her doctorate employs a decision science framework to address critical urologic workforce disparities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Once again, we were extremely impressed by the outstanding caliber of this year’s grant applicants,” said Harris M. Nagler, MD, president of the Urology Care Foundation. “The growing enthusiasm for these opportunities underscores how deeply our members value humanitarian work. The proposed initiatives promise meaningful benefits for the communities they aim to serve and will undoubtedly inspire continued dedication to this important cause.”
Grants were made possible through funds from the American Urological Association Humanitarian Endowment, the Amerson Family Humanitarian Endowment, the Richard J. Fox Foundation Humanitarian Endowment, the Barbara and Steven K. Wilson Humanitarian Endowment, the Nathirmal N. Lalchandani Humanitarian Endowment, the Endourological Society Raju and Ginny Thomas Humanitarian Endowment, the Indian American Urological Association Humanitarian Endowment, the Nawazish Ali Mian MD Family Endowment, the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction Humanitarian Endowment, the Southeastern Section of American Urological Association & Puerto Rico Urological Association Humanitarian Endowment and other contributors.
Learn more about the Urology Care Foundation Humanitarian Grant Program and the work of the 2025 grant recipients: www.UrologyHealth.org/HGPRecipients2025.
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 through philanthropic efforts, the Foundation supports the improvement of urological care globally by funding research, clinical education, patient education and humanitarian programs. 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 24,000 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 care policy.
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Corey Del Bianco Urology Care Foundation 443-689-4033 cdelbianco@auanet.org
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