CPRIT Presents Legislative Appropriations Request to the Senate Finance Committee

(AUSTIN) – Today, CPRIT leadership presented the agency’s legislative appropriations request (LAR) to the Senate Finance Committee. Among the highlights is the agency’s exceptional item request of $164 million in General Revenue to maintain grant program current services through FY 2021. Chief Executive Officer Wayne Roberts and Chief Operating Officer Heidi McConnell appeared before the committee to testify on behalf of CPRIT. See the presentation submitted to the committee.

New CPRIT Scholar Grants Recruit Talent to Texas Institutions

AUSTIN — Today, four new CPRIT Scholar grants totaling $16 million were awarded. The grants will support the recruitment of investigators researching cancers of the brain and digestive system as well as experts in the field of immunotherapy.

“CPRIT Scholars are key to the momentum Texas has achieved in building a cancer-fighting ecosystem,” said Wayne Roberts, CPRIT CEO. “Attracting top talent to our state ensures that Texas institutions are at the cutting-edge of cancer research.”

CPRIT Scholar Morrison Elected to the National Academy of Medicine

(AUSTIN) – CPRIT Scholar Sean Morrison, Ph.D. of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Election to the Academy, considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine, recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.

CPRIT Grantee Eberlin earns “Genius” Award for Innovative Cancer-detecting Device

(AUSTIN) – Livia Schiavinato Eberlin Ph.D., an assistant professor of chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin, has won a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, sometimes called a “Genius” award with a no-strings attached prize of $625,000. The fellowship results from her invention of the “MasSpec Pen,” a handheld device that identifies cancerous tissue within 10 seconds during surgical procedures. The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas provides the funding to determine if her innovation has practical application. Earlier this year, her work on the device earned an Innovation Award from South by Southwest Interactive, and she consulted on an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” that featured the “MasSpec Pen.”

CPRIT Scholar James Allison, PhD Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine

AUSTIN, TEXAS – Oct. 1, 2018 – James P. Allison, a native of Alice, Texas, son of a country doctor, eminent scholar of the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) and pioneer of cancer immunotherapy, has been awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine jointly with Tasuku Honjo. For Dr. Allison, the Nobel Prize recognizes his breakthrough work in studying a protein known as CTLA-4, proving that it behaves like a brake on immune responses. In November 2011, Dr. Allison was recruited back to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to study CTLA-4 with the help of a $10 million CPRIT grant.

CPRIT Calls for All Texans to Take Action Against Cancer, Releases Blueprint for Reducing Cancer Burden in Texas

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) today announced the release of the 2018 Texas Cancer Plan (“Plan”), a guide outlining actionable, achievable goals, objectives and strategies to reduce the burden of cancer for communities and individuals across Texas.

“Since its creation in 2007, CPRIT has helped make great strides in our fight against cancer, providing access to cancer prevention services for millions of Texans who have never had them before, and investing $2.15 billion in cancer prevention and research programs to reduce the cancer burden,” said Wayne Roberts, CPRIT CEO. “The Texas Cancer Plan is a road map in ongoing efforts to eradicate cancer and it sets goals for what Texans can accomplish when we set our minds to the betterment of our communities and our state.”