September 6, 2022

Cancer Biology Graduate Program successfully renews long-running training grant in the biology of cancer

Larry Matherly, Ph.D., director of the Cancer Biology Graduate Program in the WSU Department of Oncology and associate director of Basic Sciences at the Karmanos Cancer Institute, has successfully renewed a five-year $985,912 training grant (T32 CA009531) from the National Cancer Institute.  

Stephan Patrick, Ph.D., professor of Oncology, will serve as co-director of the T32 training program.

The latest renewal is effective until 2026, ensuring continuous support for 40 years. Since the initiation of the NCI-supported “Training Program in the Biology of Cancer” (T32 CA09531) in the late 1980s, the training grant has supported five post-doctoral and 99 pre-doctoral fellows involved in cancer research.

The current iteration of the training grant will support four pre-doctoral Ph.D. and M.D.-Ph.D. students per year. T32 trainees will be selected from the Cancer Biology graduate program, as well as from other departments at WSU, including Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Immunology, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacology. Training draws from the research and clinical infrastructure at WSU/KCI, the unique demographics of the region and the expertise of 20 accomplished preceptors in diverse areas relevant to contemporary cancer biology such as cancer drug discovery, cancer metabolism, cancer epigenetics, chemical biology, invasion and metastasis, neoplastic development, pharmaceutics, tumor imaging, tumor immunology and cancer epidemiology and health disparities.

“This is an exciting time in cancer research and medicine with extraordinary advances on virtually all fronts, ranging from immunotherapy to precision medicine,” Dr. Matherly said. “Trainees who receive the Ph.D. and are specifically trained in the discipline of cancer biology are essential, as cancer is the second major cause of human morbidity and mortality in the United States. Since its inception, this training grant has trained an accomplished group of cancer biologists, including those from diverse populations, who have assumed prominent positions throughout the U.S., where through their educational, research and related efforts, they continue to combat this devastating disease.”

 

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