TTU System Institutions Awarded CPRIT Grants
March 21, 2018 | Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, TTUHSC El Paso, Texas Tech University
On Feb. 21, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) awarded 49 new academic research grants and eight prevention grants. Texas Tech University System component institutions received nearly $4 million of the total $73.5 million awarded to Texas researchers advancing the fight against cancer.
“CPRIT enlarges Texas' critical mass of research and adds to our world class research teams at the state's institutions,” said Wayne Roberts, CPRIT Chief Executive Officer.
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) and TTUHSC El Paso received two of the eight prevention grants awarded. Dr. Izi Obokhare, a TTUHSC surgeon and principle investigator for Get F.I.T. to Stay Fit, received approximately $1.5 million for his efforts fighting colorectal cancer in the Texas Panhandle.
TTUHSC El Paso professor, Vice Chair for Research and Director for Cancer Prevention and Control Navkiran Shokar was awarded $1.5 million for her Breast Cancer Education Screening and Navigation program for El Paso and West Texas.
Texas Tech University (TTU) biochemistry researcher Michael Latham was awarded a research grant totaling over $850,000 to fund his research on the structural and functional characterization of the DNA Double Strand Break (DSBs), a particularly harmful form of DNA damage resulting from a variety of internal and external factors. Failure to protect against or correct DSBs leads to genomic instability and potentially to carcinogenesis.
The TTU System invested $236.7 million in research in Fiscal Year 2017, a $21 million increase from 2014.