Lori Lerner, MD, associate professor of urology at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, is the recipient of the 2026 Distinguished Contribution Award from the American Urological Association (AUA).

Lerner, who also is chief of urology and deputy chief of surgical service at the VA Boston Healthcare System, received this honor for advancing novel surgical technologies and education related to benign prostatic hyperplasia, also known as BPH. Each year, the AUA honors the contributions of physician researchers and educators to the field of medicine, the specialty of urology, and the AUA.

In a translational study led by the University of Leipzig Medical Center and the Fraunhofer IZI, researchers have examined how two innovative CAR T-cell therapies targeting the B-cell maturation antigen perform in patients with hard-to-treat multiple myeloma. Their aim was to determine which molecular mechanisms influence the therapeutic success of such living, cell-based therapies in this blood cancer. The findings have been published in the renowned journal Cancer Cell. The Leipzig research team led by Professor Maximilian Merz and Dr Kristin Reiche has now secured a further two million euros in funding for a new project to advance the development of next-generation immunotherapies for multiple myeloma.