On May 15, 2024, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) announced that it had approved $51.8 million in grants to advance the state’s fight against cancer. The grants are a mix of academic research recruitment grants and product development research projects.

“These grants, like all CPRIT grants, represent the leading edge of cancer research in Texas,” said CEO Wayne Roberts. “They have been thoroughly reviewed, both by CPRIT and cancer expert peers across the county and will push the boundary of innovative cancer research forward for the benefit of all Texans.” 

The 16 grants approved include 10 CPRIT Scholar recruitment grants to bring world-class cancer researchers to Texas research institutions.  

For example, Texas A&M University was awarded a $2 million CPRIT First-Time, Tenure-Track Faculty Member Recruitment Award to bring Lauren Hagler, Ph.D., to Texas from Stanford University. Dr. Hagler is the recipient of a prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) post-doctoral fellowship and is being recruited to conduct research in the emerging discipline of RNA cancer biology. 

Additionally, Baylor College of Medicine received a $6 million CPRIT Established Investigator Scholar Award to bring Thomas E. Milner, Ph.D., to Texas from California. Dr. Milner is director of the Beckman Laser Institute and professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of California Irvine. Dr. Milner has an extensive list of accomplishments, including his recent collaboration with another CPRIT grantee, Livia Eberlin, Ph.D., to develop the MasSpec Pen, a revolutionary rapid cancer detection technology. The handheld device identifies cancerous tissue within 10 seconds during surgical procedures allowing doctors to remove tumor tissue more accurately. Dr. Milner’s success as an inventor has been recognized nationally by his election as a Fellow to the National Academy of Inventors in 2016. Milner has 55 issued patents, returning royalties of over $100 million to University IP Owners/Licensees.