Texas Cancer Research Institute Funds 20 Projects at MD Anderson

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Wednesday awarded The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 20 grants for research, a state-of-the-art core sequencing center and faculty recruitment totaling $44.5 million.

The core grant of $5.99 million funds a next-generation sequencing center at the Department of Molecular Carcinogenesis at the Science Park - Research Division in Smithville.   The facility will provide advanced capabilities for analyzing genetic variation and regulatory changes that drive cancer.

Principal investigator Jianjun Shen, Ph.D., associate professor in Molecular Carcinogenesis, says adding the Illumina HiSeq 1000 to the Molecular Biology Facility Core at the Science Park also will enhance longstanding collaborative research with The University of Texas at Austin, Texas State University and MD Anderson's Michale Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research in Bastrop.

Three grants, totaling $22 million are for recruitment of established cancer researchers to MD Anderson.

Sixteen MD Anderson scientists received multi-year individual investigator grants totaling $16.5 million addressing a range of issues such as inflammation, pain, metastasis and specific cancers: breast, colon, prostate, ovarian, head and neck, brain and blood malignancies.

Since CPRIT's launch in 2009, MD Anderson has been awarded 92 grants totaling $125.8 million.  The institute announced 67 new competitive, peer-reviewed grants worth $117.5 million on Wednesday.

Additional resources

CPRIT grant awards page with lists

Houston Chronicle Story

CPRIT news release