A Texas law that bans all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy—and a Supreme Court order that allows the state law to take effect—is having an impact on cancer research in the state.
Two members of the highest-level review board of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas have submitted their resignations from the board of the state-funded institute.
“Inaction would be a tacit endorsement of this unfair law,” committee members Tom Curran and Myles A. Brown wrote in a letter to CPRIT Chief Scientific Officer James K. V. Willson.
“We feel we have no choice, given the highly discriminatory and unconstitutional law (S.B. 8) severely restricting the reproductive rights of women passed by the Texas State legislature and signed into law by the governor,” Curran and Brown said in their letter of resignation from CPRIT.
“It is hard to comprehend the enormous suffering and long-term damage to the health of the women of Texas, particularly in underserved communities, that this law will engender.”
Curran and Brown said they are resigning despite their deep and long-standing admiration for CPRIT.
“We informed anyone who asked that some of the smartest scientists in the world were being recruited to Texas and supported by funds from CPRIT,” Curran and Brown wrote. “We encouraged politicians and officials from other States to emulate the Texas commitment to the health and well-being of its population.
“Unfortunately, with the passage of S.B. 8, this is clearly no longer the case.”
A copy of Curran’s and Brown’s letter, dated Sept. 2, was obtained by The Cancer Letter.
Curran’s and Brown’s profiles were taken off the CPRIT website in the morning of Sept. 3.
“Two distinguished members of our peer review team resigned, citing disagreement with recently passed legislation unrelated to CPRIT’s mission,” CPRIT CEO Wayne Roberts said in a statement to The Cancer Letter. “I thank them for their exceptional service to the people of Texas. We remain focused on our mission to help Texans and their families affected by cancer.”
Curran is senior vice president, executive director and chief scientific officer of Children’s Mercy Research Institute, the Donald J. Hall Eminent Scholar in Pediatric Research at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UMKC School of Medicine, professor in Department of Cancer Biology at University of Kansas School of Medicine, and adjunct professor of biomedical sciences and Kansas City University of Medicine & Biosciences. He was the chair of CPRIT’s Basic Cancer Research Peer Review Panel 1.
Brown is the Emil Frei III Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and director of the Center for Functional Cancer Epigenetics at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He was a member of CPRIT’s Scientific Review Council.
It’s not publicly known whether any other members of CPRIT’s acclaimed review committees have resigned as well.
The resignations come at a time of transition for the Texas agency.
Willson, who has served as the CSO for the past six years, recently announced his retirement. He will be succeeded by Michelle Le Beau, former director of the University of Chicago Cancer Center. Le Beau will begin in her new role in October, Willson wrote in a separate Sept. 2 email addressed to the CPRIT Scientific Review Council.
“Our upcoming CPRIT recruitment meeting will be my last as CPRIT CSO,” Willson said in the Sept. 2 email. “I am retiring and I am very pleased to be able to tell you that Michelle Le Beau will succeed me as CPRIT’s Chief Scientific Officer.
“Michelle will join the September 9 recruitment nominations review call and she will formally begin in her new role at CPRIT in October.”
This is not the first time CPRIT has faced resignations of top advisors and reviewers. In 2012, scientific leaders and reviewers walked out en masse, also as a matter of principle.
However, these controversies are fundamentally different.
In 2012, the scientists involved in CPRIT were protesting meddling by Texas politicians, defending the integrity of an institute designed by Alfred G. Gilman, a Nobel laureate, who served as CPRIT’s inaugural CSO. The controversy is described in “How Al Gilman Taught Texas a Lesson in Science,” a 14-part series in The Cancer Letter. The 2012 resignations by scientists are documented in parts 11 and 12.
Curran’s and Brown’s resignations are about something else: refusal to serve a state that has enacted a law that severely restricts the reproductive rights of women.
Founded in 2007 and renewed in 2019, CPRIT has funded 1,585 awards for cancer research, product development, and prevention. To counteract political pressures, CPRIT relies on top scientists from institutions outside Texas to conduct peer review.
The total amount awarded thus far is $2,669,361,670. The institute, the largest state cancer research granting program and the second largest publicly-funded granting organization for cancer after NIH, is authorized to invest up to $6 billion (The Cancer Letter, March 22, Nov. 9, 2019).
The full text of Curran and Brown’s resignation letter follows:
Dear Dr. Willson and CPRIT colleagues,
We are writing to inform you of our decision to resign from our responsibilities to the Cancer Prevention & Research Institution of Texas (CPRIT).
We feel we have no choice, given the highly discriminatory and unconstitutional law (S.B. 8) severely restricting the reproductive rights of women passed by the Texas State legislature and signed into law by the governor.
The lack of action by the US Supreme Court means that this appalling law will not be overturned anytime soon. We feel it would be hypocritical to continue to provide services to the State of Texas with this law in place.
It is hard to comprehend the enormous suffering and long-term damage to the health of the women of Texas, particularly in underserved communities, that this law will engender.
We have worked with CPRIT for several years alongside some of the best colleagues we have ever encountered. The pursuit of the CPRIT mission has provided a great sense of fulfilment. Our review committees worked very hard and diligently to provide the very best advice.
We feel we have no choice, given the highly discriminatory and unconstitutional law (S.B. 8) severely restricting the reproductive rights of women passed by the Texas State legislature and signed into law by the governor.
Tom Curran and
Myles Brown
Our lively discussions, giving voice to all perspectives, including those of the advocate reviewers, ensured support of the very best science. Our colleagues, the wonderful CPRIT staff, the representatives from the State, were all a delight to work with.
The review process, originally envisaged by Al Gilman, and subsequently refined by our efforts, is among the best anywhere. The high-quality projects we supported and the amazingly well-qualified recruits who moved to Texas, have made, and will continue to make, fundamental contributions to cancer research that benefit the lives of patients everywhere.
We have been proud advocates, not just of CPRIT, but also for the State of Texas. There have been numerous times when we have risen to the defense of Texas and explained how wonderful the CPRIT program was, the enlightened nature of the political leadership in Texas that launched and then renewed the program, and the unparalleled generosity of the people of Texas.
We informed anyone who asked that some of the smartest scientists in the world were being recruited to Texas and supported by funds from CPRIT. We encouraged politicians and officials from other States to emulate the Texas commitment to the health and well-being of its population.
Unfortunately, with the passage of S.B. 8, this is clearly no longer the case.
Unfortunately, we cannot wait for challenges to this law make their way through the courts. Inaction would be a tacit endorsement of this unfair law.
We will miss our colleagues and the CPRIT staff and the lively scientific debates which always taught us something new.
Yours sincerely,
Tom Curran, PhD, FRS
Senior vice president, executive director and chief scientific officer, Children’s Mercy Research Institute;
Donald J. Hall Eminent Scholar in Pediatric Research, Children’s Mercy Kansas City;
Professor, Department of Pediatrics, UMKC School of Medicine;
Professor, Department of Cancer Biology, University of Kansas School of Medicine;
Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Kansas City University of Medicine & Biosciences
Myles A. Brown, MD
Emil Frei III Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School;
Director, Center for Functional Cancer Epigenetics, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
