The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has officially designated the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) as a NCI-approved funding entity. The NCI certification involves a comprehensive assessment of CPRIT’s peer review process to ensure that it conforms to National Institutes of Health (NIH) standards, including conflict of interest protections.

CPRIT’s designation as a NCI-approved funding entity is important because it means that current and potential comprehensive cancer centers in Texas will be able to include CPRIT research grant funding as part of their research base calculations in order to maintain or earn NCI Cancer Center designations. This enhances Texas’ ability to leverage additional federal funding for cancer research and raises Texas’ profile as a center for cancer research.

Texas is fortunate to be home to four acclaimed NCI-designated cancer centers: the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; the Cancer Therapy and Research Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio; and the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine. 

CPRIT joins other prominent cancer research organizations that are also NCI-approved funding organizations, such as the American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.