(AUSTIN) This week, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) welcomed two new executive staff members, filling vacancies left by staff assuming new duties following the change in leadership over the summer. Attorney John Ellis is the new General Counsel for CPRIT, taking over for Kristen Doyle, who assumed the role as Chief Executive Officer in July. Grant Weaver steps in as the new Chief Financial Officer, following Heidi McConnell who recently assumed the role of Deputy Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer.
“Adding experienced staff like John and Grant highlights CPRIT’s commitment to financial integrity and transparency,” said CEO Kristen Doyle. “Their extensive government service and breadth of strategic and tactical skills deepens the bench of experience CPRIT relies upon to fulfill our mission. As the second largest public funder of cancer research and prevention in the country, CPRIT has earned a reputation for sound fiscal and legal management of our expanding grant portfolio, and both John and Grant will help uphold that legacy.”
Prior to CPRIT, Mr. Ellis most recently served as the Chief Compliance and Risk Officer for the Texas Department of Information Resources, where he oversaw programs to manage risk and operationalize compliance with legal and ethical standards. He also worked for the Office of the Attorney General, successively as Chief of the General Counsel Division, Special Counsel to the First Assistant Attorney General, and Associate Deputy Attorney General for Policy and Communications. Before joining state government, Mr. Ellis served as legal counsel in the United States Senate. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of North Texas and a J.D. from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University.
Mr. Weaver has two decades of fiscal management experience in various capacities at state agencies and institutions of higher education, including the Texas Department of Transportation, The University of Texas System, the Office of Attorney General, and the Commission on the Arts, where he served as Director of Finance. He earned his BBA in Finance at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.
ABOUT CPRIT
Created by the Texas Legislature and approved by a statewide vote in 2007, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) leads the Lone Star State’s fight against cancer. In 2019, Texas voters again voted overwhelmingly to support CPRIT with an additional $3 billion, for a total $6 billion investment in cancer research and prevention.
To date, the agency has awarded more than $3.65 billion in grants to Texas research institutions and organizations through its academic research, prevention, and product development research programs. CPRIT has also recruited 323 distinguished researchers to Texas, supported the establishment, expansion, or relocation of 67 companies to Texas, and provided 9.9 million cancer prevention services reaching all 254 counties in Texas.
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