Urology research team wins best basic science award - Children's National

Parasites have developed ingenious strategies to change their host's biology. A research team led by Michael H. Hsieh, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Clinic for Adolescent and Adult PedIatric OnseT UroLogy (CAPITUL) at Children's National, turned the tables on the pesky parasites by using their proteins to provide therapeutic benefits. The team's paper, "Therapeutic Exploitation of IPSE, a Urogenital Parasite-Derived Host Modulatory Protein, for Chemotherapy-Induced Hemorrhagic Cystitis and Bladder Hypersensitivity," won the "Best Basic Science" award-a coveted national honor-during the Pediatric Urology Fall Congress in September. "Our work represents the first time that a uropathogen-derived host modulatory molecule has been therapeutically exploited in bladder disease models," Dr. Hsieh and co-authors write.