image: Kondapa Naidu Bobba, Nuclear Engineering Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Credit: University of Tennessee
Nuclear Engineering Assistant Professor Kondapa Naidu Bobba at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville has been selected to receive the 2026 Young Investigator Award, which is jointly supported by the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) to advance important prostate cancer research among early-career physicians and scientists.
The $225,000 award will support Bobba’s research in radiopharmaceutical therapies to improve the outcomes for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Bobba will receive $75,000 per year over three years. The grant represents the first SNMMI award for radiopharmaceutical therapy research within the Department of Nuclear Engineering.
Bobba’s group is developing a next-generation therapeutic agent designed to enhance safety by improving tumor selectivity, reducing off-target toxicities, and expanding effective treatment options for patients with advanced prostate cancer.
“I am deeply honored to receive this award, as it provides critical support for advancing my research in next-generation radiopharmaceutical therapies for metastatic prostate cancer,” Bobba said. “This funding will help accelerate the development of CD46-targeted and Auger-electron–based strategies to overcome key limitations of current PSMA-directed therapies, including tumor heterogeneity and off-target toxicity. Ultimately, this support will enable safer and more effective treatment options for patients with advanced disease who currently have limited therapeutic choices.”
A key moment in Bobba’s research came when he met Wei Li and Jonathan Wall, both distinguished professors from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, at a statewide conference in Nashville in 2025 that was organized by UTHSC Vice Chancellor Jessica Snowden. The meeting provided an opportunity to connect and discuss shared research interests, which facilitated the development of a collaborative effort targeting prostate cancer.
“I am also deeply grateful to my mentors and collaborators at UC San Francisco, Dr. Robert Flavell, Dr. Henry V. Brocklin, Dr. Youngho Seo, and Dr. Bin Liu, whose guidance and support have been instrumental in shaping my research,” Bobba said. “Their mentorship and scientific insight have been invaluable in advancing my work in radiopharmaceutical development, cancer imaging, and therapy.”
The goal of the PCF-SNMMI Young Investigator Award program is to encourage the next generation of prostate cancer experts by funding high-risk, high-reward projects and securing protected time for research. The program has awarded nearly $100 million over three decades to more than 435 researchers who have made important advancements in prostate cancer research.
“This award marks an important step toward advancing this emerging field at UT and beyond,” he said. “Furthermore, this effort aims to attract and train more undergraduates and graduate students in nuclear medicine, helping to address the current shortage of researchers and technologists in Tennessee and across the United States.”