THE UNIVERSITY of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was awarded $30 million from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to support research, core facilities, recruitment, and prevention efforts. An additional $19.9 million was awarded to a company co-founded by MD Anderson to support the development of a novel targeted therapy to treat neurologic conditions caused by chemotherapy. In total, MD Anderson and its projects received 28% of the $177 million in awards announced by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
MD Anderson awards included $11.9 million for multi-investigator research including awards for breast cancer and preclinical studies. The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas awarded $19.9 million to Korysso Therapeutics, Inc., which is doing business as Magnolia Tejas Corporation, the wholly owned Houston-based subsidiary of Magnolia Neurosciences Corporation, launched by MD Anderson and Accelerator Life Science Partners.
Stephen Hahn, MD
“These [Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas] awards are vital to our mission as they allow us to fund transformational research and prevention projects, to recruit stellar talent, and to more quickly advance novel therapeutics developed by our experts,” said Stephen Hahn, MD, Chief Medical Executive of MD Anderson. “We’re grateful to [the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas] and the people of Texas for this much-needed support, which will help us work to improve the treatment and prevention of cancer for our patients and beyond.”
Award Recipients
TWO MULTI-INSTITUTIONAL Investigator Awards have been granted to John Tainer, PhD, to focus on BACIS (BRCA answers from cancer interactome structures), and Kelly Hunt, MD, to investigate the rational combination treatment options to reverse resistance in hormone receptor–positive breast cancer refractory to standard therapy.
The High-Impact High-Risk Award has been given to Yonathan Lissanu Deribe, PhD, to research targeted proteolysis of glucocortoid receptor as a therapeutic strategy in antiandrogen treatment–resistant prostate cancer.
Nicholas Navin, PhD; Richard Gorlick, MD; and Mark Bedford, PhD, have been awarded Core Facility Support Awards, to study integrated single-cell genomics core facility, pediatric solid tumors comprehensive data resource core, and protein array and analysis core, respectively.
A Tobacco Control and Lung Cancer Screening Award has been granted to Janice Blalock, PhD, to research increasing access to smoking cessation and smoke-free home services for low-income pregnant women in northeast Texas.
A Texas Company Product Development Award was granted to Korysso Therapeutics, Inc, to investigate the development of a novel targeted therapy for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and “chemo brain.” ■
