Projects support product development, prevention and research advancements across Texas
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas awarded 20 grants through its product development program, five grants through its prevention program and seven recruitment grants through its research program, totaling more than $65 million.
With a total requested amount of approximately $33.9 million, these early translational research grants awarded to Texas institutions include projects developing therapeutics, devices and new drugs.
The awarded research grants total approximately $24 million. The awarded prevention grants, totaling approximately $7.3 million, support prevention services for underserved populations in Texas. The projects receiving grants focus on increasing HPV vaccination rates and providing access to colorectal and cervical cancer screening. The project receiving a competitive continuation grant provides screening, training and educational services related to colon cancer.
The awarded product development grants for early translational research are:
- Baylor College of Medicine—three grants totaling $5,927,789: Novel Separase Inhibitors to Treat Refractory Breast Cancer, $2,000,000; Oral Stat3 Inhibitor as Targeted Treatment for Triple-negative Breast Cancer, $1,999,569; and NKT Cell Platform for Cancer Immunotherapy, $1,928,220.
- MD Anderson Cancer Center—three grants totaling $5,045,493: Genetic Engineering of T Cells as an “Off-the-shelf” Therapy for Leukemias and Lymphomas, $1,992,245; Blood-based Markers for Screening and Early Detection of Colorectal Neoplasia, $1,693,599; and High-throughput Flow-proteometric System in Screening Functional Complexes as Cancer Biomarkers, $1,359,649.
- The University of Texas at Austin—three grants totaling $4,949,450: Preclinical Development of a Therapeutic Enzyme for Immune Checkpoint Inhibition in Cancer, $1,790,486; Image-guided Smart Laser Knife for Cancer Surgery, $1,694,460; and Pre-IND Development of OxaliTex, $1,464,504.
- The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center—three grants totaling $4,521,535: New Antibody Therapy for Treating Leukemia, $2,000,000; Targeting the SWI/SNF Chromatin-remodeling Complex in Liver Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma, $1,357,880; and Targeting the DC-HIL Receptor for Anti-cancer Immunotherapy, $1,163,655.
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio—two grants totaling $3,990,904: Druggable Targets that Regulate the Antitumor Activity of ER-beta, $1,998,444; and ESR1 Coregulator Binding Site Inhibitors (ECBIs) as Novel Therapeutics to Target Hormone Therapy Resistant Metastatic Breast Cancer, $1,992,460.
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston—two grants totaling $3,481,666: Targeting an Elusive Foe: Development of K-ras Inhibitors, $1,969,826; and Development of a Novel K-ras Therapeutic, $1,511,840.
- Texas A&M University System Health Science Center—Therapeutic Targeting of Skp2/Ck1 to Restore Nuclear p27, $1,999,979.
- The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston— Inhibitors of Hydrogen Sulfide Biosynthesis: Preclinical Development of Novel Colorectal Cancer Therapies, $1,605,119.
- Methodist Hospital Research Institute—Immunotherapy Targeting Triple Negative Breast Cancer Using NY-ESO-1-Specific TCRs and Blockade of Immune, $1,592,992.
- University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth—Selective Tumor Delivery of Anti-cancer Agents in Ovarian Cancer Therapy, $742,048.
The awarded prevention grants include funding for evidence-based cancer prevention services:
- Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center: ACCION for Rural West Texas, $1,467,820.
- Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center: Get FIT to Stay Fit. Stepping Up to Fight Colorectal Cancer in the Panhandle, $1,455,409.
- MD Anderson Cancer Center: Improving Cervical Cancer Screening and Prevention in the Lower Rio Grande Valley Through Public Outreach, Patient Navigation and Telementoring, $1,441,085.
- The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston: A Multi-pronged Approach to Increase HPV Vaccination Rates among Adolescents 9-17 years of Age from Galveston and Brazoria Counties, $1,406,919
- And a competitive continuation/expansion grant for Texas A&M University System Health Science Center: Continuation and Expansion of Texas A&M’s Colon Cancer Screening, Training, Education and Prevention Program, $1,500,000.
Recruitment grants awarded indicate only approval to negotiate offers; at this time the candidates have not accepted offers. The research grants for recruitment were awarded to:
- Robert Mattrey, for recruitment to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center from the University of California, San Diego, $6,000,000.
- Samara Reck-Peterson, for recruitment to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Department of Cell Biology from Harvard Medical School, $4,000,000.
- Andres Leschziner, for recruitment to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center from Harvard University, $4,000,000.
- Issam El Naqa, for recruitment to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center from McGill University Health Center, $4,000,000.
- Xi Chen, for recruitment to Baylor College of Medicine from Weill Cornell Medical College, $2,000,000.
- Marcin Imielinski, for recruitment to MD Anderson Cancer Center from Broad Institute of Harvard, $2,000,000.
- Melanie Samuel, for recruitment to Baylor College of Medicine from Harvard University, $2,000,000.
