Mega Doctor News
AUSTIN – The governing board of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) met and approved more than $103 million in 69 new cancer research and innovation grants for institutions and companies across Texas. The grants expand rural clinical trials, support core facilities, fund childhood and adolescent cancer survivorship research and help recruit and train the next generation of Texas scientists. These awards reflect CPRIT’s comprehensive approach to accelerating cancer cures and treatments and reducing the burden of cancer for Texans and Texas families.
“The awards approved today touch every corner of the state – from El Paso to Tyler, from Dallas and Houston to the Rio Grande Valley,” said CPRIT CEO Kristen Doyle. “CPRIT has the institutional commitment and established reach to support innovative research and bring life‑saving treatments to communities throughout Texas. No other state has made a long-term investment in fighting cancer at this level, and every Texan should feel proud of our state’s leading role in discovering and developing new approaches to take on this intractable disease.”
Since its first award in 2009, CPRIT has dedicated more than $4 billion in state funds to groundbreaking cancer research and prevention – making it the second-largest public funder of cancer research in the nation.
Texas Christian University Receives Institution’s First CPRIT Grant
The Oversight Committee approved Texas Christian University’s first CPRIT award, a $250,000 grant to develop a mobile 3D imaging tool that predicts breast density and encourages greater participation in mammograms to detect breast cancer earlier. With this research award, TCU joins more than 40 other research Texas institutions that have received CPRIT funding.
Rural Cancer Clinical Trials
CPRIT committed $4.2 million in funding to expand clinical trials in rural and underserved areas with five first-time Rural Clinical Trial Accelerator Grants. Clinical trials test new treatments and are essential to CPRIT’s mission to accelerate options to prevent, detect, treat, and cure cancer. Trials give researchers the data they need to translate laboratory discoveries into lifesaving treatments safely and effectively, and give patients access to innovative therapies not yet available elsewhere. With the new Rural Clinical Trial Accelerator grants, patients in rural and underserved communities will gain access to new treatments that previously would have required travel hundreds of miles to major academic centers. These grants will help institutions in El Paso, Tyler, Bryan, and the Rio Grande Valley prepare for trial readiness by providing seed funding for infrastructure, staffing, and operational support.
“Expanding clinical trial opportunities outside the major research hubs of Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio not only offers hope to cancer patients who will be able to access new treatments closer to home,” Doyle said, “but will increase the number of people enrolled in trials and provide researchers a more diverse group of patients to study – both of which are necessary to accelerate cancer drug approval.”
Cancer Discovery and Innovation Ecosystem (Core Facilities, Companies & Training)
CPRIT also continued investing in Texas’ cancer discovery and innovation ecosystem through broad support for core facilities, early-stage companies pursuing innovative cancer treatments, and comprehensive research training programs. Corresponding to this investment, Texas has seen almost 50% growth in the bioscience industry in the state, which far exceeds the national average of 15%.
The Oversight Committee approved nearly $12 million for the creation and expansion of core facilities in San Antonio, Houston, Bryan, and Dallas. Core facilities provide shared access to advanced technology, equipment, and scientific expertise that may not be available at every institution. These core facilities are vital to not only cancer research but also to the study of diseases beyond cancer.
The Committee also approved more than $21 million in research training awards to expand the skills of trainees and early‑career researchers, helping build the next generation of cancer investigators and leaders. These programs ensure that Texas continues to strengthen its workforce of scientists dedicated to preventing, treating, and curing cancer.
During additional business, the Committee received updates on the upcoming CPRIT Innovations VII: The Cancer Research and Prevention Conference, scheduled for October 5–7 in Galveston, as well as several external presentations.
Leslie Sloan, Ph.D., chief executive officer of CPRIT‑grantee OmniNano Pharmaceuticals, briefed the Committee on the company’s progress.
Subhash C. Chauhan, Ph.D., director of the South Texas Center of Excellence in Cancer Research at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine and chair of the CPRIT University Advisory Committee, presented the Committee’s annual report.
CPRIT will post video of the meeting once available at: http://meeting.cprit.texas.gov
ABOUT CPRIT
Created by the Texas Legislature and approved by a statewide vote in 2007, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) leads the Lone Star State’s fight against cancer. In 2019, Texas voters again voted overwhelmingly to support CPRIT with an additional $3 billion, for a total $6 billion investment in cancer research and prevention.
To date, the agency has awarded more than $4.1 billion in grants to Texas research institutions and organizations through its academic research, prevention, and product development research programs. CPRIT has also recruited 351 distinguished researchers to Texas, supported the establishment, expansion, or relocation of 77 companies to Texas, and supported 11.8 million prevention services reaching all 254 counties in Texas.
To learn more about CPRIT accomplishments, browse the 2025 Annual Report here.
The Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House appoint the members of the Oversight Committee. The board meets at least once every quarter to set the priorities for the agency as well as vote on proposed, peer-reviewed cancer research and prevention grants to institutions, organizations, and companies throughout the state.
CPRIT APPROVED GRANTS
May 20, 2026
RURAL CLINICAL TRIALS ACCELERATOR AWARDS
RP260783 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley McAllen $877,627
UTRGV Rural Clinical Trials Accelerator Award
RP260823 Texas A&M University System Health Science Center Bryan $900,000
Advancing Oncology Clinical Trial Infrastructure in Rural and Underserved Communities of Texas
RP260868 University Medical Center of El Paso Healthcare Inc. El Paso $900,000
West Texas Oncology Site Network
RP260885 DHR Health Institute for Research and Development Edinburg $635,037
Starr County Oncology Trials Accelerator
RP260886 The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler Tyler $890,472
Expansion of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (UTHSCT) Oncology Clinical Research Program to Henderson County in Rural East Texas
ACADEMIC RESEARCH AWARDS
RP260282 The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Houston $1,577,123
I-PROTECT – Intratumoral Prevention and Risk Outcomes in Targeted Early Cancer Treatment with Immunotherapy
RP260367 University of Houston Houston $899,999
Purification- and Isolation-free eXosomE profiLing (PIXEL) for lung cancer detection
RP260555 The University of Texas at Austin Austin $899,244
Mitochondrial DNA Heteroplasmy and Leukemia-Immune Microenvironment Crosstalk
RP260582 Baylor College of Medicine Houston $899,013
Defining the Functional Impact of CX3CR1 Variants in IDH-Mutant Glioma Progression
RP260620 Baylor College of Medicine Houston $1,600,000
Menin Inhibition to Prevent Relapse and Enhance Immunity in MLL-rearranged Acute Leukemias or NPM1-mutant Myeloid Malignancies After alloHSCT with PTCy
RP260716 Baylor College of Medicine Houston $900,000
A Clinical Trial-Compatible Pooled Base Editing Screen to Identify Gene Edits that Enhance CAR T Cell Function
RP260727 Baylor College of Medicine Houston $2,400,000
Baylor College of Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Training Program
RP260732 The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Houston $250,000
Non-Invasive Deep Brain Neuromodulation for Cigarette Smoking Cessation in People with Multiple Failed Quit Attempts
RP260736 The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas $1,999,320
North Texas Multimodal Small Animal Imaging Core Facility
RP260737 Texas A&M University System Health Science Center Houston $2,400,000
Cancer Therapeutics Training Program (CTTP).
RP260740 The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Houston $4,995,254
AYA LASSO: A statewide platform to assess and improve long-term health outcomes in AYA cancer survivors
RP260742 The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Houston $1,999,997
A Preclinical Development Core for Large Molecule Therapeutics
RP260745 The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Houston $224,998
Generation of TROP2-Selective Cyclic Peptide Drug Conjugates
RP260760 Baylor College of Medicine Houston $250,000
Allo-resistant off-the-shelf armed CAR-Vδ2 T cell therapy for osteosarcoma
RP260761 Texas A&M University System Health Science Center Houston $1,989,058
The GCC Microphysiological Lead Optimization and Toxicity Screening facility
RP260767 Rice University Houston $250,000
Rapid enrichment of anti-tumor T cells via electrothermally induced mixing
RP260768 The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston Galveston $249,957
Development of ASB-1 as a novel therapeutic for prevention and treatment of colitis-associated colorectal cancer
RP260770 The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio San Antonio $250,000
Integrating Structural Insights and Generative Protein Design to Target the EWS::FLI1 Oncofusion
RP260780 Texas Tech University Lubbock $250,000
Not “Rare” Anymore: Profiling Circulating Tumor Cell Subtypes Through Cell-based Simulation and Transfer-Learning-based AI Platforms
RP260788 The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas $4,000,000
Cancer Intervention and Prevention Discoveries Program
RP260791 The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas $250,000
A genetic platform to define how elevated lipoprotein levels influence cancer progression
RP260794 The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Houston $249,760
A CRISPR-guided, Cancer Cell-specific Killing System
RP260798 Baylor University Waco $250,000
Miniaturized probe to measure the therapeutic electric fields dose in pre-clinical models of glioblastoma
RP260802 The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Houston $4,000,000
Biomedical Informatics, Genomics and Translational Cancer Research Training Program (BIG-TCR)
RP260803 The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio San Antonio $1,999,969
High Parameter Analysis, Sorting and Imaging Flow Cytometry Shared Resource
RP260804 The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas $250,000
Immune Detection of Cancer Through Immunotransmitters
RP260813 University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth Fort Worth $2,400,000
UNT Health Cancer Research Scholars
RP260816 The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson $249,999
MHC-I peptide-based immunotherapy in solitary fibrous tumors (SFT)
RP260817 The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Houston $4,000,000
The Future of Cancer Research: Training Program for Basic and Translational Scientists
RP260820 University of Houston Houston $250,000
Developing safe and effective combination therapies for FAP children using approved drugs
RP260826 The Methodist Hospital Research Institute Houston $249,919
Nanobody and coiled coils for theranostic applications
RP260829 The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Houston $249,999
Intergenerational effects of paternal obesity on lung immune dysregulation and tumorigenesis
RP260830 Baylor College of Medicine Houston $2,400,000
Cancer Epidemiology with Real-World Data Training Program
RP260849 The Methodist Hospital Research Institute Houston $249,994
Precision RNA Nanotherapeutics Platform for Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
RP260860 Rice University Houston $250,000
Live visualization of biological responses to inform next-generation radiation therapy
RP260870 Texas Tech University Lubbock $249,727
Albumin-Complexed Cyanine-Based NIR Afterglow Nanoprobes for Image-Guided Cancer Surgery
RP260875 Rice University Houston $1,999,997
The Genetic Design & Engineering Center (GDEC)
RP260893 Texas A&M University College Station $250,000
Development of a High-Throughput Cell-Based Platform for the Discovery of APE1 Inhibitors
RP260896 The Methodist Hospital Research Institute Houston $248,450
Decoding and overcoming antibody–drug conjugate resistance in HER2-positive and HER2-low breast cancer through RAGE pathway inhibition
RP260898 The University of Texas at Austin Austin $250,000
Inhibiting Biomolecular Condensates in Treating Drug-Resistant Lung Cancer
RP260901 Texas Christian University Fort Worth $250,000
BRIGHT: A mobile 3D imaging tool to predict breast density and encourage mammogram adherence
RP260907 Rice University Houston $250,000
Mechanical Phenotyping in Age-Related Ovarian Cancer Metastasis
RP260911 The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas $250,000
Epithelial-to-Neuronal Transition as a Mechanistic Driver of Brain Metastasis in Small Cell Lung Cancer
RP260912 The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio $250,000
Safe and Robust Use of AI in Radiotherapy
RP260913 Texas Medical Center Foundation Houston $1,999,617
Business- Driven Accelerator for Cancer Therapeutics (BDACT)
RP260914 The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio $246,196
Reprogramming the Obese Endometrial Tumor Microenvironment with Integrin-Targeted Nanotherapy
RP260918 Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Lubbock $1,434,140
Enhancing access to pediatric oncology clinical trials in West Texas
CPRIT SCHOLAR AWARDS (RECRUITMENT)
RR260039 The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Houston $2,000,000
Recruitment of Adam Grippen
RR260049 The Methodist Hospital Research Institute Houston $3,000,000
Recruitment of Jose Clemente from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
RR260051 Baylor College of Medicine Houston $2,000,000
Recruitment of Rui Yang
RR260053 Baylor College of Medicine Houston $2,000,000
Recruitment of Petri Polonen from St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital
RR260055 The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas $2,000,000
Recruitment of Jing Zhang from UTSW
RR260057 The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas $3,000,000
Recruitment of Christopher Ellebrecht from University of Pennsylvania
RR260059 Rice University Houston $2,000,000
Recruitment of Hao Wu from University of California San Francisco
RR260060 Rice University Houston $2,000,000
Recruitment of Sangyeon Cho from Massachusetts General Hospital
RR260061 The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Houston $4,000,000
Recruitment of Andre Nussenzweig from NIH
RR260071 The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Houston $2,000,000
Recruitment of Haoxin Li from The Scripps Research Institute
RR260076 Rice University Houston $2,000,000
Recruitment of Yan Zhang from California Institute of Technology
RR260087 The University of Texas at Austin Austin $2,000,000
Recruitment of Saigopalakrishna Yerneni from The University of Texas at Austin
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AWARDS
DP220043 Xerient Pharma Inc. Guy Yachin Houston $880,421
Oral Amifostine as an upper GI Tract Radioprotectant for Effective Radiotherapy Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer
DP220066 PanTher Therapeutics, Inc Laura Indolfi Austin $1,771,577
Enhancing Cancer Treatment through Direct, Localized, and Sustained Delivery of Therapeutic Agents: Clinical Evaluation in Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer
DP230064 OmniNano Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Guorong Ma Houston $658,900
IND-Enabling Studies of ONP-001: A Nano-Codelivery Formulation with Two Drugs of Distinct Mechanisms of Action for Treating Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
DP240073 March Biosciences, Inc. Sarah Hein Houston $1,993,978
Advancing Clinical Development of MB-105 CD5 CAR-T cell Therapy for T-cell Lymphoma
DP260242 Indapta Therapeutics Houston $12,810,565
Allogeneic g-NK Cells in Combination with Innate Immune Engager Targeting CD123 for Treatment of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia
Information source: Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
