The Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) today (Jan. 27) presented a $4.2 million check to the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) also received approximately $1 million.

“Competition is fierce for CPRIT funding. Our faculty members have demonstrated their research programs can compete effectively at the state and national level,” said TTUHSC President Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D. “We congratulate them on being recognized for their dedication to combating this disease.”

Over the next three years, $2.7 million will fund the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine project Against Colorectal Cancer in our Neighborhoods (ACCION), which will help reduce the burden of colorectal cancer in the El Paso community. Another $1.5 million will help establish a Cancer Clinical Core Facility at TTUHSC El Paso through the State of the Art Cancer Care at Home project. The funds awarded to UTEP will be used to conduct prostate cancer research.

Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Founding Dean and Vice President for Health Affairs Jose Manuel de la Rosa, M.D., said the institution is proud to receive this award thanks to two star scientists, Navkiran Shokar, M.D., M.P.H., and Zeina Nahleh, M.D., who have dedicated themselves to cancer research and prevention.

“These projects are so important to providing the most vulnerable members of our society with life-saving treatments and early detection,” de la Rosa said.

Texas Tech University System Chancellor Kent Hance added, “We are extremely grateful to CPRIT for these grants that will allow our researchers to continue their fight against cancer. To more than double our amount of state cancer research funding in a year is remarkable.”

Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2007 establishing CPRIT and authorizing the state to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund groundbreaking cancer research, prevention programs and services in Texas.

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