(AUSTIN) Today, following the President's announcement of plans to reignite the Cancer Moonshot effort and establish a goal to reduce the cancer death rate by 50 percent, the state agency spearheading Texas’ unprecedented cancer-fighting initiative has issued the following statement:

“Today’s announcement of a reignited Cancer Moonshot is great news.” said Wayne Roberts, CEO of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. “Cancer touches nearly everyone, so all efforts are needed to make a difference. In Texas, we’re already engaged in a $6 billion, 20-year initiative to spur cutting-edge cancer research, fund innovative prevention programs and incentivize development of new cancer-fighting medicines and products. CPRIT is the largest state cancer research investment in the history of the United States and the second largest cancer research and prevention program in the world . . . but we can’t do it all on our own. Just like NASA and the initiative that the Cancer Moonshot is modeled on, Texas has proven that we can lead seemingly impossible endeavors and more than any other state, Texas is all in for the fight against cancer.

More than 131,000 Texans were diagnosed with cancer last year and 46,000 died. 

ABOUT THE CANCER PREVENTION AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF TEXAS (CPRIT)

Over the last eleven years, CPRIT has invested $2.9 billion in Texas’ universities, enterprises, and organizations to support the cancer continuum from discovery to delivery.  The agency has awarded more than 1,645 grants to academic research, product development, and prevention projects across Texas.

CPRIT’s prevention, academic research, and product development research programs have helped recruit 254 outstanding cancer researchers to Texas, create or expand more than 43 innovative biotech companies throughout the state, and funded more than 7.4 million life-saving cancer prevention and early detection services in all 254 counties in Texas.

CPRIT was created by the Texas Legislature and approved by a statewide vote in 2007 to lead the Lone Star State’s fight against cancer.  In 2019, Texas voters again voted overwhelmingly to continue CPRIT with an additional $3 billion for a total $6 billion investment in cancer research and prevention.

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

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