Newswise — Since January 2003, 36 faculty members of Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) have competed successfully for 43 grants which have a total value of $40.9 million and a first year value of $11.2 million. These grants include two prestigious program project grants awarded by the National Cancer Institute. A complete listing is available on the RPCI website at www.roswellpark.org.
Program project grants offer support of broadly-based multidisciplinary research programs that have a well-defined central research focus or objective. Allan R. Oseroff, MD, PhD, Chairman of the Department of Dermatology, at RPCI and the University at Buffalo, is the principal investigator on a five-year $10.9 million extension of a program project grant to continue studies on photodynamic therapy (PDT). PDT uses light to activate photosensitizing drugs that selectively destroy tumor cells. The program extends from drug development, through laboratory models to clinical trials and is designed to gain an understanding of the mechanisms of PDT and to optimize clinical treatment. The grant includes four interactive projects involving the departments of Dermatology, Molecular & Cellular Biophysics, Molecular & Cellular Biology, and Immunology.John R. Subjeck, PhD, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biophysics, is the principal investigator on a five-year, $6.9 million grant to study the functional interactions of thermal stress (fever), heat shock proteins and the immune response, and to use this understanding to improve immunotherapy of cancer. This program project grant involves three interactive research programs involving the departments of Immunology and Molecular & Cellular Biophysics.
"Each of these 43 research projects met or exceeded the stringent peer-review criteria established by federal funding agencies," said David C. Hohn, MD, President & CEO, RPCI. "Our dedicated researchers strive daily to increase our understanding of cancer and seek ways to better prevent, detect and treat this disease."
The RPCI grants will support research to understand how cancer disrupts the normal processes of a cell, identify and exploit promising new cancer therapies and build translational bridges that extend from the laboratory bench to the patient's bedside.
"Roswell Park is proud to be acknowledged for its excellence in cancer research," noted Dr. Hohn. "The economic contributions made by these grants through Roswell Park benefit the entire Upstate New York economy."
Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation's first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. For more information, visit RPCI's website at www.roswellpark.org.
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