CPRIT Awards Faculty $11.5 Million for Recruitment and Research in Brain and Bone Cancer, Biology, and Immunotherapy

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise DALLAS March 6, 2015 The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has awarded UTSouthwestern Medical Center researchers more than $7.5 million in research grants to improve diagnostic and therapeutic services and research relating to cancers of the brain, breast, throat, and bone, as well as to improve scientific understanding of cancer biology.

UTSouthwestern received an additional $4 million for recruiting emerging cancer scientists. The February awards bring the total awarded by CPRIT to UTSouthwestern for cancer research, recruitments, and prevention efforts to $34 million in fiscal year 2015, more than any other Texas institution.

New research grants were awarded to seven UTSouthwestern researchers at the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center as part of CPRITs Individual Investigator Research Awards.

The projects by these researchers underscore the vitality of the collaborative effort we value and encourage at the Simmons Cancer Center, and the diversity of approaches that are needed to expand opportunities for those facing a cancer diagnosis, said Dr. James Willson, Associate Dean of Oncology Programs at UTSouthwestern, and Professor and Director of the Simmons Cancer Center, the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in North Texas and one of just 68 in the country. Dr. Willson holds The Lisa K. Simmons Distinguished Chair in Comprehensive Oncology.

Dr. Luis Parada, Chairman of Developmental Biology, Director of the Kent Waldrep Foundation Center for Basic Neuroscience Research, and holder of the Diana K. and Richard C. Strauss Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology and the Southwestern Ball Distinguished Chair in Nerve Regeneration Research, was awarded $900,000 to study a small chemical compound that stops stem cell growth in gliomas (brain cancer). His lab has been instrumental in identifying molecules that inhibit nerve regeneration after injury.

Dr. Craig Malloy, Professor with the Advanced Imaging Research Center, Internal Medicine, and Radiology, who holds the Richard A. Lange, M.D. Chair in Cardiology, was awarded $897,311 in partnership with Texas A&M University to develop new technologies to study metabolism in breast cancer. This collaboration leverages the strengths in human metabolism at UTSouthwestern, electrical engineering expertise at Texas A&M, and the distinctive 7 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device at the Bill and Rita Clements Advanced Medical Imaging Building at UTSouthwestern. MR images at 7T allow investigators to observe small anatomical structures and to monitor tissue biochemistry without biopsies or radiation.

Dr. Zhijian Chen, Professor of Molecular Biology and with the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense, who holds the George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science, was awarded $889,185 to study how to improve cancer immunotherapy through a pathway called the Cytosolic DNA Sensing Pathway. The pathway induces type-I interferons, which are important for activating cytotoxic T cells to kill tumors.

Dr. Steve Jiang, Professor and Vice Chairman of Radiation Oncology, Chief of the Division of Medical Physics and Engineering, and holder of the Barbara Crittenden Professorship in Cancer Research, was awarded $858,356 to study how to take online adaptive radiotherapy technologies developed in the lab into clinical practice. Online adaptive radiotherapy allows real-time adjustments to provide individualized cancer radiotherapy that can help reduce unwanted exposure to healthy tissues.

See the original post:
CPRIT Awards Faculty $11.5 Million for Recruitment and Research in Brain and Bone Cancer, Biology, and Immunotherapy