Moon Shots Program

How team science aims to beat cancer

Ronald DePinho, M.D., president of MD Anderson, gives an update on the Moon Shots Program at an Oct. 18 press conference. Photo by F. Carter Smith.

In September 2012, MD Anderson launched the Moon Shots Program, an unprecedented, comprehensive assault to significantly reduce deaths from cancer and to transform cancer care. The program comprises six teams of MD Anderson researchers and clinicians initially focusing on these eight cancers:

Each moon shot team is pursuing innovative projects prioritized for greatest patient impact, ranging from basic and translational research to biomarker-driven novel clinical trials. Specialized platforms, such as Cancer Prevention and Control, provide infrastructure, systems and strategy in a variety of areas. The ultimate goal is to apply knowledge gained from this process to all cancers. Moon shot efforts will help support all other cancer research at MD Anderson, particularly with improved resources and infrastructure.

The program will receive funding from private philanthropy, institutional earnings, competitive research grants and commercialization of new discoveries.

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iPromise

Joseph Jacobs, 73, lives in Schaumburg, a Chicago suburb, where he's an accountant. Jacobs and his wife recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and have two daughters and four grandchildren.

Survivors Say

Leslie Schwartz, M.D., is a psychiatrist at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. He had a matched unrelated (allogeneic) donor bone marrow transplant at MD Anderson in November 2005. He and his wife, Peggy, live in Juno Beach, Fla.

My Moon Shot

Marion Meyer, a retired biochemist, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in 2001. She says her oncologist, Michael Keating, M.D., professor of Leukemia and co-leader of MD Anderson's CLL Moon Shot, has never allowed her to lose hope.