MD Anderson receives $19.5 million in CPRIT funding for recruitment and prevention

MD Anderson News Release February 17, 2017

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center this week was awarded $19.5 million from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), receiving 57 percent of the total $34 million awarded. The MD Anderson awards included $18 million for recruitment of established investigators, and $1.5 million for a competitive continuation/expansion award in prevention.

Since its inception, CPRIT has awarded $1.78 billion in grants for cancer research, of which MD Anderson has received 20 percent. The agency began making awards in 2009 after Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a 2007 constitutional amendment committing $3 billion to the fight against cancer.

To date, CPRIT has awarded $1.78 billion in grants to Texas researchers, institutions and organizations. CPRIT provides funding through its academic research, prevention, and product development research programs. Programs made possible with CPRIT funding have reached all 254 counties of the state, brought more than 123 distinguished researchers to Texas, advanced scientific and clinical knowledge, and provided more than three million life-saving education, training, prevention and early detection services to Texans

“With these new awards, CPRIT continues to push Texas into the forefront of cancer research and prevention,” said Wayne Roberts, CPRIT chief executive officer. “CPRIT helps bring the best the brightest researchers in the world to Texas, while continuing to invest in promising programs with our partners.”

MD Anderson’s CPRIT awards included:

  • $6 million for recruitment of a top scientist with expertise in molecular mechanisms of cancer and aging.
  • $6 million for recruitment of an  expert in molecular studies of targeted cancer therapies
  • $6 million for recruitment of a top researcher with expertise in transplantation immunology.
  • $1.5 million for a prevention grant:
    • Active Living After Cancer: Combining a Physical Activity Program with Survivor Navigation, Karen Basen-Engquist, Ph.D., professor, Department of Behavioral Science.