Humanitarian Grant Program Recipients

AUA members receiving humanitarian grants are affiliated with ongoing non-profit organizations and projects within and outside the United States. Their contributions are helping to improve patient outcomes and quality of care, creating and strengthening educational and research programs and fostering relationships among hospitals, universities, community and governmental organizations.

The Foundation is proud of all humanitarian grant recipients, the stories of their outstanding contributions and the lives they are changing.

2024 Humanitarian Grantees

	Laura Bukavina, MD, MPH, MSc Project Location: Lviv and Kiev, Ukraine Dr. Bukavina is an assistant professor of Urologic Oncology at Cleveland Clinic Glickman Urologic Institute. Her upcoming mission to Ukraine with the Cleveland Maiden Association will mark her fifth trip to the area to provide focused surgical interventions and education sessions. In a region where the resonance of war disrupts both the rhythm of daily life and the delivery of essential medical services, her project is steadfast in its commitment to the civilian and military communities affected by trauma. The effects of ongoing conflict have created a scarcity of specialists trained in urologic oncology and reconstructive urology—fields crucial for addressing the complex GU traumas resulting from warfare.
	Kavita Gupta, MD Project Location: Ajmer, India Dr. Gupta is an endourology fellow at the Mount Sinai Kidney Stone Center in New York City. In partnership with the Jeev Sewa Sansthan organization, Dr. Gupta will travel to India to deliver surgical and medical care for complex kidney stone disease. During Dr. Gupta’ s last trip was in 2022 in Gujarat, India, they performed over 60 percutaneous procedures and provided urologic care to patients from all over the state. This trip will be different, because in addition to providing care to the underserved populations, he plans to also help educate the surgeons in Ajmer to create a self-sustainable health care system that will help treat kidney stone patients after his group leaves.
	Alex Hwang, MD Project Location: Gujrat, India Dr. Hwang is a urology resident at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. Through his work with the Jeev Sewa Sansthan (JSS) organization, he will travel to India to provide urologic healthcare to impoverished patients residing rural areas. The local site is recognized as one of the only urological teaching facilities in the region. Through collaborative efforts by JSS and visiting urologists, indigent urologists can provide up-to-date surgical techniques and management as well as participate in mutual encouragement from the visiting care urologists.
	Alberto Ramirez-Lopez, MD, FACS Project Location: Culebra and Vieques, Puerto Rico Dr. Ramirez-Lopez is a urologist based out of Puerto Rico and has been an integral part of the University of Puerto Rico Department of Urologic Surgery. With support from the university’s Urology Program, he will bring to underserved areas in the outer Islands of Puerto Rico which have limited availability of services since they are not connected by roads to the main Island. The Islands have a population of approximately 17,000 permanent residents, and no hospital.
	Glen McWilliams, MD Project Location: New York, USA Dr. McWilliams serves as Vice President of the R. Frank Jones Urologic Society (RFJUS) and holds several other prominent positions within the urologic field. With RFJUS, Dr. McWilliams will provide prostate cancer education and screenings to underserved populations in New York City. The R. Frank Jones Urological Society will be involved in several health fairs to provide prostate cancer education and screenings including the African American Day Parade, the NMA Convention and several prominent churches in Harlem. These events provide overall wellness education and encourage many men and their families to enroll in affordable health insurance plans which are sustainable. From a urologic standpoint, they have led to the detection and treatment of prostate cancer in men who had never been screened.
	Amir Khan, MD Project Location: Punjab, Pakistan Dr. Khan is a research fellow with the University of Maryland, Department of Surgery. Through partnership with the Pakistan Kidney Institute, their project will deliver an introductory course on clinical research methods and clinical trials followed by a research mentoring program. This clinical research course and mentoring program will directly strengthen the clinical research skills of the residents and fellows of urology in Pakistan. Another benefit will be the development of institutional clinical patient-level databases. On top of directly assisting clinicians in understanding disease trends and etiologies, clinical databases help pave a path for collaboration with international organizations such as the AUA.
	Michael Gross, MD Project Location: Senegal Dr. Gross is a urology resident with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Through partnership with urologists at the Hopital de Gran Grand Yoff in Dakar, Senegal, Dr. Gross has planned for a host of surgeries for their most complex and refractory cases that would otherwise have prolonged suffering from their ailments. These include obstetric fistulae from prolonged labor, urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, urethral diverticulae and a host of other more general urologic conditions such as BPH and urethral stricture.
	Juan Martínez-Salamanca, MD, PhD Project Location: Cameroon Dr. Martínez-Salamanca is the president of the Lyx Foundation, which was founded in 2019 to actively stimulate the creation of deep-rooted and self-sustaining projects through local leadership training. He has spearheaded numerous humanitarian campaigns in Cameroon, striving to make a tangible difference in the lives of those in need. Dr. Martínez-Salamanca is currently championing a screening project for prostate cancer in Cameroon where his efforts could potentially provide invaluable support to individuals who remain undiagnosed.
	Michael Sourial, MD, FRCSC Project Location: Honduras Dr. Sourial is an Assistant Professor of Urology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. He will travel to Hospital San Hermano Pedro, Catacamas, Honduras, along with two other US based urologists, to provide urologic services to a small rural village with little access to medical care. His primary focus is on benign prostatic hyperplasia and kidney stones, with 100-120 patients typically seen.
	Timothy Bukowski, MD, FACS, FAAP Project Location: Belize Dr. Bukowski is a Clinical Professor of Urology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, with board certification in Pediatric Urology. For 25 years, he has served as a medical volunteer with World Pediatric Project (WPP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting children in developing countries with access to diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical care. Each Spring, he travels to Belize with members of the WakeMed urology nursing team to provide surgical care to children with congenital and chronic urological conditions.

Past Recipients

View previous Grant Program recipients and read their trip summaries:

• 2023 Humanitarian Grant Program Recipients
• 2022 Humanitarian Grant Program Recipients
• 2021 Humanitarian Grant Program Recipients