MD Anderson receives nearly $19.4 million in CPRIT funding

MD Anderson News Release February 15, 2023

Â鶹ӳ»­ MD Anderson Cancer Center today was awarded 15 grants totaling $19.38 million from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) in support of cancer research projects across the institution.

¡°We are grateful for CPRIT¡¯s invaluable support of MD Anderson¡¯s mission to end cancer,¡± said Peter Pisters, M.D., president of MD Anderson. ¡°The funds awarded today will strengthen the ability of our world-leading team of dedicated scientists and clinicians to test new hypotheses, drive scientific discoveries and generate breakthroughs that can improve the lives of cancer patients.¡±

Since its inception, CPRIT has awarded more than $3 billion in grants for cancer research. MD Anderson investigators have received $587 million, approximately 20% of the total awards. Programs supported by CPRIT funding have brought more than 288 distinguished cancer researchers to Texas, advanced the knowledge base for cancer treatment throughout the state and provided more than 8.2 million cancer prevention and early detection services reaching all 254 counties in Texas.

CPRIT awards to MD Anderson include:

Individual Investigator Research Awards:

  • Neuronal alterations in the midbrain dopaminergic system function: a novel mechanism of radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction (, Radiation Oncology) - $1,399,730
  • Geospatial approaches to melanoma early detection ¨C The GAMED Project (, Dermatology) - $1,998,196
  • A novel therapeutic strategy targeting pancreatic cancer (, Translational Molecular Pathology) - $1,049,854
  • Studying and therapeutically targeting ferroptosis liability in BRCA1 deficient cancer (, Experimental Radiation Oncology) - $1,050,000
  • Targeting the Mlc1-GlialCAM protein complex in invasive glioma cells (, Neurosurgery) - $1,050,000
  • Blocking DNA damage response induction of ¡°don¡¯t eat me¡± signals converts local radiotherapy into systemic immunotherapy (, Immunology) - $1,049,905
  • Normalizing membrane homeostasis in microglia/macrophages of pediatric high-grade gliomas (, Cancer Biology) - $1,400,000
  • Overcoming therapy resistance by integrated computational modeling of the bone metastatic niche in prostate and renal cancers (, Genitourinary Medical Oncology) - $1,025,623
  • Integrative modeling of spatially resolved multi-omics data to identify bladder cancer mucosal field effects (, Biostatistics) - $1,199,994
  • Multi-component interventions to improve uptake and adherence to lung cancer screening (, Health Services Research) - $1,988,211
  • Enhancing immune responses in pancreatic cancer by stromal inhibition of HIF2 (, GI Radiation Oncology) - $1,049,997
  • A novel combination therapeutic approach to revitalizing immunotherapy for bone metastatic prostate cancer (, Translational Molecular Pathology) - $1,050,000
  • Targeting distinct metabolic vulnerabilities of aggressive renal cell carcinoma variants ( Urology) - $1,019,997
  • Mapping the geospatial tumor clonal architecture to restore immune recognition in pancreatic cancer (, Genomic Medicine) - $1,049,985

Scholar Recruitment Awards:

  • Recruitment of one first-time, tenure-track faculty member - $2,000,000