Three Wayne State University School of Medicine researchers have obtained American Cancer Society - Institutional Research Grant funds of $30,000 each for one year to help fund their studies.

The grants are provided annually to researchers across all disciplines at Wayne State University. Scientists from various disciplines submitted a total of 11 applications this year.

This year's winners and their research project titles include:

Xuequen Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor of Physiology, "Secretomics analysis to identify soluble factors that mediate the migration of carcinoma-associated fibroblasts towards breast carcinoma cells."

Theresa Hastert, Ph.D., assistant professor of Oncology, "Economic consequences of cancer survivorship: Perspectives of African-American and White cancer survivors in metropolitan Detroit."

Mustapha Kandouz, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pathology, "Ehd3 loss in glioma stem cells: Roles in gliomagenesis."

The three are also affiliated with the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute.

ACS-IRG funds provide seed money to support junior faculty members with an interest in cancer research who do not have national grant support. Investigators must be an assistant professor or equivalent and must be within six years of their first independent faculty appointment to be eligible for the grant.