American Cancer Society awards grant to WVU

The Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center at West Virginia University has received an $180,000 grant from the American Cancer Society that will be split between six junior faculty members over the next three years.

The Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center was one of 16 institutions throughout the country and the only one in West Virginia warded the grant by the ACS.

"The award will support six projects at $30,000 each primarily for early and junior cancer research faculty across the spectrum of basic science, clinical and translation science, and cancer prevention and control research projects," said Dr. Scot Remick, the director of the Cancer Center and a professor at the WVU School of Medicine. "All the projects must be cancer focused and one of them must be a cancer prevention and control project."

Remick said it is especially important to provide the grant money to junior researchers so they can gain experience and work on their project ideas.

"This is essential support that the ACS is providing us to grow our research portfolio and funding base so we can work toward a National Cancer Institute designation," he said. "It is a huge opportunity for the cancer center to support new and junior faculty at WVU in cancer research with the expectation that this support will provide the springboard for federal research."

The money from the ACS grant will help junior researchers begin their research, Remick said, which will hopefully lead to further funding through various other grants.

"The advantages are huge for junior investigators to have this sort of funding to jump-start their research laboratories and careers," he said. "It capitalizes on our local institutional expertise to closely mentor these junior faculty investigators and provide them opportunities to derive significant data that is required for successful federal or other peer-reviewed grants."

Remick said the Cancer Center faculty is currently reviewing projects to decide who will receive the first round of funding from the ACS grant.

Grant money has been provided in the past to researchers studying breast cancer, the relationship between obesity and cancer and bone marrow transplants, all of which led to further funding through other grants.

The cancer center was eligible to compete for this year’s ACS grant because their previous grant of $120,000 from 2008-10 had expired, Remick said.

The Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center has had a long collaborative relationship with the local and regional chapters of the ACS, he said, and has received patient support and services from the organization.

"We are very grateful for the national recognition and support the ACS is providing to share our goal to grow our cancer research mission and improve care for patients and for the state of West Virginia," he said. "This is a wonderful partnership for our center and more importantly, our patients."