Press Releases
- For Immediate Release
July 27, 2011 - AUSTIN, TX - For more information, contact
Ellen Read (512) 305-8483
CPRIT AWARDS CANCER PREVENTION AND RESEARCH RECRUITMENT EFFORTS AROUND THE STATE
From cancer screenings in El Paso to training nurses in Houston, from genetic testing in Dallas to preventing cancer through diet and exercise in San Antonio, Texas is funding projects across the state that are critical to meeting its goal of reducing the cancer burden for Texans. In addition to these projects and many others, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) approved funding to recruit a line-up of leading scientists in cancer research who will soon be calling Texas home.
These announcements come as part of CPRIT’s latest round of funding in which the institute is providing more than $72 million to fund cancer prevention programs and services and attract top-notch cancer researchers to the state. Of the 13 prevention awards, four support cancer prevention screening services, seven focus on changing health behavior through public and professional education and training and two provide funding for smaller programs to help people quit smoking or increase their access to cancer screening.
“These prevention projects will bring proven cancer control interventions to the people with greatest need,” said Dr. Becky Garcia, CPRIT’s chief prevention officer. “In our first year of operations we are pleased that almost 80 percent of Texans we screened for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer had never been screened before.”
CPRIT funding also is helping attract to Texas some of the leading scientists in cancer research. Fifteen CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research recruitment awards were announced at Wednesday’s meeting, including funding for world-renowned cancer scientists Neal Copeland, Nancy Jenkins, Herbert Levine, Sean Morrison and José Onuchic. These researchers are developing new cancer treatments and improved screening technologies.
“Our investment in these prevention and recruitment projects will produce dividends that will touch all Texans,” said CPRIT Executive Director Bill Gimson. “With the creation of CPRIT, Texas has taken a leading role nationally in the fight to beat cancer. By funding these types of projects and others around the state, Texas is strengthening its position as a hub for innovative cancer research and effective prevention efforts.”
Highlights of prevention projects awarded funding include:
- A $1.5 million project at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas serving Dallas and five surrounding counties that will use family history assessment and genetic testing and counseling to identify low-income, minority individuals who are at higher risk for the disease
- $600,000 in funding for a National Center for Farmworker Health project to increase early detection of breast and cervical cancer among Hispanic women in Hays County, where the incidence of invasive breast cancer is the highest in the state among Hispanic women
- More than $265,000 in funding for a cancer prevention program of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio to promote physical activity, a balanced diet and prevent excess weight among Hispanic families in San Antonio
- A project at the Rose that will help uninsured women living in rural areas of Southeast Texas access breast cancer screening and follow-up services
Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2007 establishing the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) and authorizing the state to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund groundbreaking cancer research and prevention programs and services in Texas. CPRIT’s goal is to expedite innovation and commercialization in the area of cancer research and to enhance access to evidence-based prevention programs and services throughout the state.
CPRIT accepts applications and awards grants for a wide variety of cancer-related research and for the delivery of cancer prevention programs and services by public and private entities located in Texas. More information about CPRIT is available at its website, www.cprit.state.tx.us.
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