(AUSTIN) — The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) today awarded 20 academic research grants and five prevention grants totaling over $69 million.

Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas at Austin each received a Rising Stars recruitment grant for early-stage investigators who have demonstrated extraordinary accomplishments during their initial years of independent research. Ten First-Time, Tenure-Track Faculty recruitment grants were awarded to five institutions for emerging investigators pursuing their first faculty appointment, and who are expected to make outstanding contributions in cancer research.

CPRIT’s recruitment awards attract exceptional cancer research talent to Texas to work with preeminent scientists at the state’s research institutions, creating the finest cluster of cancer researchers in the world and contributing to Texas’ emerging bioscience ecosystem. Recruits receive the prestigious “CPRIT Scholar” designation. To date, 233 CPRIT Scholars are working at 21 institutions across Texas. To learn more about CPRIT Scholars and the vital contribution they make to cancer research, please visit http://scholars.cprit.texas.gov.

Eight Research Training grants were awarded to six institutions across Texas. These specialized training programs educate undergraduate and graduate students, clinician trainees, and pre- and post-doctoral fellows thereby preparing the next generation of physician scientists. Visit CPRIT’s 2020 Annual Report to learn more about our research training programs: https://cprit.us/3pH3xUy

The prevention awards expand several established programs that address various cancers among underserved populations. The University of Houston’s "Taking Texas Tobacco Free”, a statewide CPRIT-funded program targeting underserved populations with higher rates of tobacco use is broadened to use community-based clinics. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso received two grants to expand its breast and colorectal cancer screening programs into 64 counties in West Texas, and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at Amarillo will broaden its colorectal screening reach in the Panhandle. San Antonio-based University Health System will expand a hepatitis C screening program to prevent hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) in South Texas, a region with disproportionately higher rates of liver cancer than the rest of the state.

See the attached list for all grants awarded.

About the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas

CPRIT has awarded $2.72 billion in grants to Texas research institutions and organizations through its academic research, prevention, and product development research programs. CPRIT has recruited 233 distinguished researchers, supported the establishment, expansion, or relocation of 42 companies to Texas, and generated more than $5.5 billion in additional public and private investment. CPRIT funding has advanced scientific and clinical knowledge and provided 7.1 million life-saving cancer prevention and early detection services reaching Texans from all 254 counties. On November 5, 2019, Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment providing an additional $3 billion to CPRIT, for a total $6 billion investment in cancer research and prevention efforts across Texas, one of the largest state funded research program in United States history and the second largest source of funding for cancer research in the world.

Learn more at https://cprit.texas.gov/. Follow CPRIT on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

AWARDED RESEARCH GRANTS

Research Training Awards – Eight grants totaling $30,320,920

Baylor College of Medicine

• Baylor College of Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Training Program (Jeffrey Rosen) - $3,974,082
• Systems Epidemiology for Cancer Training Program (SECT Program) (Margaret Spitz) - $3,593,867

Texas A&M University System Health Science Center

• Cancer Therapeutics Training Program (CTTP) (Peter Davies) - $3,136,872

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

• Collaborative Training of a New Cadre of Innovative Cancer Prevention Researchers (Maria Fernandez) - $3,998,230
• Biomedical Informatics, Genomics, and Translational Cancer Research Training Program (BIG-TCR) (Zhongming Zhao) - $3,998,553

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

• The Future of Cancer Research: Training Program for Basic and Translational Scientists (Khandan Keyomarsi) - $4,000,000

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

• Cancer Intervention and Prevention Discoveries Program (Melanie Cobb) - $3,748,675

University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth

• HSC Scholars in Cancer Research (Jamboor Vishwanatha) - $3,870,641

Recruitment of Rising Stars Awards* - Two grants totaling $8,000,000

• Jeremy Wilusz, PhD, Recruitment to Baylor College of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine - $4,000,000
• Stephanie Seidlits, PhD, Recruitment to The University of Texas at Austin from the University of California Los Angeles - $4,000,000

Recruitment of First-Time, Tenure-Track Faculty Members Awards* - Ten grants totaling $20,000,000

• Blair Benham-Pyle, BS, MS, PhD, Recruitment to Baylor College of Medicine from Stowers Institute for Medical Research - $2,000,000
• Dongyin Guan, PhD, Recruitment to Baylor College of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania - $2,000,000
• Joshua Riback, BA, PhD, Recruitment to Baylor College of Medicine from Princeton University - $2,000,000
• Julea Vlassakis, PhD, Recruitment to Rice University from the University of California, Berkeley - $2,000,000
• Cassandra Callmann, BS, MS, PhD, Recruitment to The University of Texas at Austin from Northwestern University - $2,000,000
• Jason Sheltzer, BA, PhD, Recruitment to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory - $2,000,000
• Brian Miller, MD, PhD, Recruitment to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute - $2,000,000
• Courtney Schroeder, PhD, Recruitment to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center - $2,000,000
• Sihan Wu, PhD, Recruitment to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center from the University of California, School of Medicine, San Diego - $2,000,000
• Chen Yu, PhD, Recruitment to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center from the National Institutes of Health - $2,000,000

* Awarded recruitment grants indicate only approval to negotiate offers; at the time of release candidates have not accepted offers.

AWARDED PREVENTON GRANTS 

Expansion of Cancer Prevention Services to Rural and Medically Underserved Populations Awards – Five grants totaling $11,202,949

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

• Get F.I.T. to Stay Fit, Stepping up to Fight Colorectal Cancer in the Panhandle (Izi Obokhare) - $2,492,187

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso

• BEST 3: The Breast Cancer Education Screening and Navigation Program in West and South Texas (Navkiran Shokar) - $2,500,000
• Southwest Coalition for Colorectal Cancer Screening (SuCCCeS) 2 (Navkiran Shokar) - $2,500,000

University Health System

• Hep C - C.A.R.E (Colonias Advancing & Restoring Esperanza) (Roberto Villarreal) - $1,712,190

University of Houston

• Taking Texas Tobacco Free among Substance Users within Community-based Healthcare Settings in Rural and Medically Underserved Areas Across Texas (Lorraine Reitzel) - $1,998,572