The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has awarded Dallas-area institutions $16.3 million in grants to advance the state’s fight against cancer.

Included in the 12 Dallas-area funding awards is a $4 million Rising Star grant to bring Stefan Gloeggler, Ph.D., to UT Southwestern Medical Center from the Max Planck Institute of Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen, Germany.

Gloeggler is an internationally recognized leader in the field of hyperpolarized MRI contrast agents and polarizer technology development, and molecular imaging technologies for cancer imaging. Here, CPRIT said he will use a multi-spectral approach to investigate multiple aspects of cancer metabolism simultaneously to improve the capabilities of MRIs to detect brain cancer and other kinds of cancer.

Nearly $100M in cancer-fighting grants approved across Texas

Statewide, the CPRIT governing body approved $98,592,155 million in grants that are a mix of academic research and prevention projects and represents the largest public state commitment to cancer research by any U.S. state.

“Every Texan should be proud of what CPRIT has done today to further the fight against cancer,” CEO Wayne Roberts said in a statement. “CPRIT and our grantees are making an impact unlike any other state and today’s vote is continued confirmation that Texas is a national leader in cancer research and prevention.”

The committee approved 46 academic research grants for a total of nearly $73 million dollars. Those grants will fund research on many kinds of cancer, including over $10 million for research on childhood and adolescent cancers. The Oversight Committee also approved 12 cancer prevention grants totaling almost $26 million.

CPRIT awarded seven new CPRIT Scholar recruitment grants today, including the one for Gloeggler. Another $2 million went to UT Southwestern to recruit Kevin Mark from the University of California Berkeley.

Locally, UT Southwestern received more than $12 million in research grants. UT Dallas received $1 million.

CPRIT CEO to leave agency this summer after nearly 12 years of impact

CPRIT also announced that CEO Roberts will be leaving the agency later this summer. Roberts has led the agency for more than a decade.

“When I was recruited to CPRIT in late 2012 as interim director, it was made clear that I was temporary, here for the 83rd Legislature and gone. That interim has lasted longer than expected,” Roberts said in a statement. “Now, after over 11 years at CPRIT’s helm, I will step aside at the end of June. I want to thank CPRIT’s Oversight Committee for taking a chance on me then and letting me participate for so long in this historic state initiative.”

Oversight Committee Chair David Cummings, M.D., said Roberts’ leadership will have lasting impact.

“For over a decade, CPRIT has been blessed with the hard work and dedication of Wayne Roberts,” Cummings said. “His longstanding commitment to the cause of cancer will be felt for generations. During his tenure, CPRIT has become the second largest cancer research funding entity in the United States. Simply put, CPRIT would not be what it is today without the leadership of Wayne Roberts.”

Created by the Texas Legislature and approved by a statewide vote in 2007, CPRIT leads the state’s fight against cancer. In 2019, Texas voters again voted overwhelmingly to support the organization with an additional $3 billion, for a total $6 billion investment in cancer research and prevention.

To date, CPRIT has awarded more than $3 billion in grants to Texas research institutions and organizations through its academic research, prevention, and product development research programs. The agency also has recruited 306 distinguished researchers to Texas, supported the establishment, expansion, or relocation of 62 companies to Texas, and supported 9.4 million prevention services reaching all 254 counties in Texas.

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