ASCI / Emerging-Generation Awards, 2024

Kathryn ("Kate") Hacker Gessner is a third-year urologic oncology fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned her undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College studying Genetics, Cell and Developmental Biology with a minor in Art History. She then completed her MD and PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology through the dual-degree program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her PhD dissertation research focused on the Genetics and Epigenetics of Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) under the mentorship of W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD. Dr. Gessner then completed urology residency at the University of North Carolina, during which she studied the impact of standard opioid prescribing pathways on opioid prescribing, use, and patient satisfaction. During residency, she also developed and served as a co-Investigator on GRADE-SRM, a prospective, non-randomized hybrid clinical trial assessing decision-making experience and RCC biomarkers in small renal masses. As a urologic oncology fellow at UNC, Dr. Gessner’s research focuses on the genomics and tumor microenvironment of bladder and kidney cancer under the mentorship of William Kim, MD. Following the completion of fellowship, Dr. Gessner has been extended a position as an Assistant Professor to pursue the surgeon-scientist career path running a translational research laboratory focused on the genomics and molecular biology driving the development and progression of genitourinary malignancies. As a surgeon, she aims to utilize bench-to-bedside strategies to develop both improved pre-operative risk stratification techniques as well as therapies to prevent disease progression and improve the survival of patients with bladder and kidney cancer.