The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has approved more than $103 million to fund cancer research across the state. A total of 69 grants were delivered, providing municipalities and higher education institutions with state support to advance cancer discovery, research and innovation.
Originally established in 2007, CPRIT has grown into a $6 billion, 20-year initiative entirely oriented to advance cancer research and prevention opportunities. It’s the largest state cancer research investment in America, and the second largest on a global scale. To date, it has invested more than $4 billion in state funds to support these works.
The institute is empowered to:
- Provide grants for research into the causes of and cures for cancer; facilities for cancer research; therapy, protocol, pharmaceutical or procedure development to mitigate or cure cancer; and implement cancer prevention and control programs.
- Support institutions of learning and advanced medical research facilities to collaborate on finding the causes of all types of cancer and develop cures.
- Establish the appropriate standards and oversight bodies to ensure the proper use of funds.
- Employ an executive director as determined by the oversight committee.
- Employ necessary staff to provide administrative support.
- Monitor contracts and agreements.
- Implement, monitor and revise the Texas Cancer Plan as needed.
Among the latest investments through the $103 million May 2026 funding round, CPRIT opted to expand its efforts to address rural healthcare. Through the Rural Clinical Trial Accelerator Grants (RCTAG), the state will ensure that rural and underserved communities have as much opportunity for innovative treatments that would have been previously inaccessible.
CPRIT delivered $4.2 million through the RCTAG program across five grants. The funding will ensure all Texans can receive the quality of care they need, allowing institutions to use clinical trials to prevent, detect, treat and cure cancer – translating discoveries into lifesaving treatments.
A significant amount of CPRIT grants was issued to 10 University of Texas (UT) institutions, allocating money for research, researcher recruitment incentives, core facility development and research training. Award highlights in this round include:
- $15 million to help UT institutions recruit top researchers.
- $5 million for UT MD Anderson to develop a statewide platform to assess and improve long-term health outcomes in adolescent and young adult cancer survivors.
- $2 million for UT Austin researchers exploring how leukemia cells metabolically hijack patient cells to speed their proliferation and blunt immune responses.
- $877,000 for UT Rio Grande Valley to establish the region’s first comprehensive oncology clinical trials infrastructure.
The CPRIT Oversight Committee approved a combined $33 million to support the state’s cancer discovery and innovation ecosystem. This includes a $21 million investment in research training awards designed to build the next generation of cancer investigators and leaders. The remaining $12 million will go toward core facilities in major urban centers – San Antonio, Houston, Bryan and Dallas. These facilities offer shared access to advanced technology, equipment and scientific expertise that may otherwise be unavailable.
The grants also extend to private intuitions. Rice University received multiple awards, including $2 million to expand the Genetic Design and Engineering Center. Additional efforts receiving funding include creating live visualization of biological responses to inform radiation therapy, improving cancer-fighting T cells and examining how age impacts the spread of ovarian cancer.
Photo by Gustavo Fring from Pexels
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