CPRIT Awards over $21 Million to MD Anderson for Cancer Research and Faculty Recruitment

Giulio Draetta, MD, PhD

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today was awarded $21.4 million from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) in support of cancer research efforts and faculty recruitment.

“We are grateful to CPRIT for its continued funding to support our efforts to lead impactful cancer research and to recruit exceptionally talented scientists to MD Anderson,” said Giulio Draetta, MD, PhD., chief scientific officer at MD Anderson. “These awards are a testament to the relentless work of our world-class scientists and clinicians, driving future potential breakthroughs that will advance our collective mission to end cancer.”

Since its inception, CPRIT has awarded over $3.9 billion in grants for cancer research. MD Anderson investigators have received more than $696 million, approximately 18% of the total awards. CPRIT award recipients include 151 academic institutions, non-profit organizations and private companies located in Texas. The research and prevention efforts funded by CPRIT advance the health of Texans, the research superiority of the state, the life science infrastructure and the Texas economy.

Academic research awards to MD Anderson include:

• Extracellular vesicles and exosomes biology core (Raghu Kalluri, MD, PhD, Cancer Biology) - $2,999,997
• Increasing uptake of germline genetic testing among prostate cancer patients in a diverse safety net hospital (Debanjan Pain, MD, Health Services Research) - $999,999
• Using genetically engineered macrophages to enhance the response of glioblastoma to immune checkpoint inhibitors (Chibawanye Ene, MD, Ph.D., Neurosurgery) - $999,496
• Phase I study of intrathecal cellular adoptive immunotherapy using autologous CD+ antigen-specific T cells for melanoma patients with leptomeningeal disease (Isabella Glitza Oliva, MD,PhD, Melanoma Medical Oncology) - $249,997
• Engineering a microbial-inspired antibody toxin bioconjugate for cancer immunotherapy (Betty Kim, MD, PhD, Neurosurgery) - $249,854

In addition to these academic awards, CPRIT awarded $16 million for the recruitment of six CPRIT Scholars.