CPRIT awards $41.6 million to University of Texas institutions

AUSTIN – The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Wednesday announced that six institutions of The University of Texas System have been awarded $41.6 million in grants to help make advancements in the prevention and treatment of cancer.  

The grants through CPRIT’s academic research and prevention programs were awarded to UT MD Anderson, UT Health Science Center - San Antonio, UT Southwestern, UTHealth Houston, UT Arlington and UT Dallas. UT MD Anderson, UT Southwestern and UT Health Science Center – San Antonio are designated National Cancer Institute cancer centers, which must meet rigorous criteria for world-class programs in cancer research.

Altogether, CPRIT announced awards of more than $89 million Wednesday to institutions and companies across Texas. To date, CPRIT has awarded about $1.33 billion in grants to help fight cancer.

“These awards will be used by UT institutions to improve research facilities, recruit outstanding researchers, and focus on innovations in diagnosing, treating and preventing cancer,” said Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., the UT System’s executive vice chancellor for health affairs. “These funds will have a profound impact on the people of Texas and beyond, and we are so very grateful to CPRIT and the state of Texas for their continued support of cancer research.”

Since 2009, CPRIT has awarded a total of $675.5 million to UT institutions that also include UT Austin, UT El Paso, UT San Antonio, UT Health Northeast and UT Medical Branch at Galveston.

CPRIT grants awarded to UT institutions in this round include:

Awarded Research Grants

Core Facilities Support Awards (CFSA) – Four grants totaling $20,149,111

  • The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
    • Precision Oncology Decision Support Core – $5,999,996
  • The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
    • The Single-Cell Biopsy and Characterization Core (SBCC) at The University of Texas Health Science at San Antonio – $3,277,895
  • The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
    • Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibody Lead Optimization and Development Core – $5,277,338
  • The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
    • Bioinformatics Core Facility at UT Southwestern Medical Center – $5,593,882

High-Impact/High-Risk Research Awards (HIHR) – 9 grants totaling $1,794,541

  • The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
    • Dynamin GTPase: A Novel Pro-Apoptotic Cancer Therapeutic Target – $200,000
    • Acetate May Be a Key Substrate Driving Growth in Early Stage Breast Cancer in Patients – $200,000
    • Identification of Novel Melanoma Metastasis Driver Genes through Transposon-Mediated Mutagenesis – $200,000
    • Identifying Inhibitors of Ascl1 to Block Growth of Malignant Neuroendocrine and Neural Tumors – $200,000
  • The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
    • Inhibition of Breast Cancer Metastasis to the Bone by microRNA Transmission through Gap Junctions – $200,000
    • Turning on a Novel Tumor-Inhibiting Switch for Colorectal Cancer – $200,000
  • The University of Texas at Arlington
    • Biomechanical Profiling of Migrating Brain Cancer Genotypes in Tightly-Confined Space for Drug Screening – $199,998
  • The University of Texas at Dallas
    • Identification of Therapeutic Targets on Breast Cancer Stem Cells – $194,543
  • The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
    • Drug Conjugates of anti-LGR5 Antibodies as Novel Therapeutics for Destroying Cancer Stem Cells – $200,000

Recruitment of First-Time, Tenure-Track Faculty Members*: 2 grants totaling $4,000,000

  • Maralice Conacci-Sorrell, Ph.D., Recruitment to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center – $2,000,000
  • Andreas Doncic, Ph.D., Recruitment to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center from Stanford University – $2,000,000

Recruitment of Established Investigators*:

  • Hongtu Zhu, Ph.D., Recruitment to The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – $4,000,000

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

Awarded Prevention Grants

Competitive Continuation/Expansion Grants:

  • The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, BSPAN3: Breast Screening and Patient Navigation for Rural and Underserved Women across North Texas – $1,499,993

Evidence-Based Cancer Prevention Services: $7,388,774

  • The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Alliance for Colorectal Cancer Testing (ACT) in Southeast Texas – $2,588,774
  • The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, The C-SPAN Coalition: Colorectal Screening and Patient Navigation – $4,800,000

Evidence-Based Prevention Programs: $2,751,636

  • The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, STOP HCC – Evidence-Based Hepatocellular Cancer Prevention Targeting Hepatitis C Virus Infection – $1,488,294
  • The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Media-Rich Mobile Dissemination of a Dysphagia Prevention Program for Head and Neck Cancer Patients during Radiation – $1,263,342