Donor-Supported Scientific Achievements

The programs and institutes listed below have greatly benefited from donor support. Your donation to one of the essential mission areas — research, prevention, education and capital improvement — will help to fund one of these priority programs. You may also designate a gift to a specific program, a research project or a fundraising event.

Institutes

Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy

The ultimate goal of the Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy is to determine the specific genetic and molecular abnormalities of each individual patient’s cancer, and then prescribe the appropriate therapies that target these abnormalities.
Already we are developing new ways to look at an individual’s or a tumor’s genetic profile and to identify the mechanisms of action of a drug or treatment. This information is then used to determine the best therapy for each patient.
We now have available new technologies that enable us to develop drugs and biologic agents with the potential to target cancer-causing genes, but the actual pace of developing new therapies has been slow.
We have created the Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy and within it the Center for Biomarker Based Clinical Trials to accelerate the development of new treatments for all types of cancer including the following:
- Brain—Considered to be one of the most productive efforts in the world aimed solely at brain tumors, the Brain Tumor Center pioneered the identification of genetic abnormalities that can predict the driving forces in a patient’s cancer using gene chip technology and genome arrays.
- Breast—Researchers in the Nellie B. Connally Breast Center recently reported on three genomic guides for making breast cancer treatment decisions using only a single microarray analysis of the patient’s tumor biopsy.
- Gastrointestinal—M. D. Anderson’s Gastrointestinal Center is conducting several personalized medicine studies, including innovative clinical trial design for colorectal cancer, tailored treatment approaches for esophageal cancer, molecular profiling of biliary cancer and prediction of response to therapy for pancreatic cancer.
- Genitourinary—Bladder, kidney and prostate cancer specialists in the Genitourinary Center are developing clinical trials that will personalize treatment by matching patients with therapies shown to be effective against tumors with genetic characteristics similar to those of their own disease.
- Gynecology—Widely recognized as one of the best gynecology centers in the world, the Gynecologic Oncology Center is working on new therapies that target the PI3K pathway in endometrial cancer and that use RNA interference to shut off abnormal genes in ovarian cancer.
- Head and Neck—M. D. Anderson’s Head and Neck Center pioneered the use of targeted p53 gene therapy for head and neck cancers. Today, our researchers are studying biomarkers and gene expression profiles for laryngeal and other head and neck cancers in order to personalize therapy for these malignancies.
- Lung—Thoracic Center researchers are conducting the world’s first clinical trials in personalized lung cancer medicine. These trials and other studies are pinpointing molecular characteristics that drive the growth or death of lung cancer cells and can be targeted with tailored therapies.
- Lymphoma—Lymphoma researches are seeking to fast-track more effective, less toxic therapies from the laboratory to the patient. Molecular signaling pathways—with strange-looking names like mTOR, PI3K/AKT, MEK/ERK, HDAC and HSP90—are “secret codes” that are critical to lymphoma cells. As our scientists “crack the code,” they are developing drugs that precisely target and interrupt these pathways, thereby halting or killing lymphoma cells, with few or no side effects for the patient.
- Melanoma—Experts in the Ben Love/El Paso Corporation Melanoma and Skin Center are testing a drug aimed at the C-KIT gene abnormality in melanoma. If successful, the trial would be the first prospective study to show the efficacy of a targeted therapy for melanoma.

Duncan Family Institute for Cancer Prevention and Risk Assessment

The answer to a problem as complex as preventing cancer will not come from any one laboratory or even a number of laboratories working independently, so the Duncan Family Institute for Cancer Prevention and Risk Assessment brings together investigators across departments to include some of our best scientists and clinicians.
Our focus on prevention has grown so dynamically that approximately 70 faculty are now involved in more than 162 research projects and clinical programs.
Private funding will allow us to recruit additional world-class faculty, provide seed funding for promising new research projects, respond rapidly to changes in technology and maintain the momentum of these projects.

Institute for Basic Science

New information in basic science—such as studies of the underlying cellular and molecular structures and processes of life, DNA, genes and alterations, stem cells and signaling pathways—is beginning to bring together the pieces of the cancer puzzle. The institute will work to complete the puzzle through collaborations among basic scientists and translational and clinical researchers.
We know that cancer is caused by the abnormal function of critical genes. Basic science is the key to discovering how this process occurs, and M. D. Anderson is recognized as an important source for basic science research discoveries.
Institute projects will focus on seven basic science research areas:
1. Biological pathways—Understanding molecular mechanisms and cellular pathways that may contribute to cancer development.
2. Biomolecular structure and function—Investigating how large molecules interact with one another and how those interactions modify such functions as gene regulation and DNA repair.
3. Cancer epigenetics—Examining the normal processes that cells undergo and the malfunctions in the processes that may turn a cell cancerous. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are often reversible, providing new options for cancer therapies.
4. Environmental and molecular carcinogenesis—Defining the underlying mechanisms of environmental triggers for cancer development.
5. Genetics and genomics—Defining the underlying mechanisms of environmental triggers for cancer development.
6. Inflammation and cancer—Discovering how the immune system recognizes and attacks targets (a key to vaccine development and all forms of immunotherapy) and how immunology and inflammation impact cell growth.
7. Stem cell and developmental biology—Exploring how stem cells renew themselves and form many different tissue types, providing insight into regenerative medicine.

McCombs Institute for the Early Detection and Treatment of Cancer

M. D. Anderson pioneered multidisciplinary patient care in which cancer specialists from a variety of disciplines work together to tailor the best possible treatment for each patient. The McCombs Institute applies this collaborative model to cancer research to speed development of personalized cancer medicine via new diagnostic tests and treatments based on molecular and genetic approaches.
Rather than grouping scientific investigators by department, the institute groups basic scientists and clinical researchers from many different departments according to their shared research interests. By working together and sharing sophisticated resources in a single site, they contribute to an exchange of ideas that is crucial for making breakthrough discoveries. Progress in one area of research can thus spur progress in another.
The McCombs Institute encompasses six Centers of Excellence and a new program in Systems Biology:
- Robert J. Kleberg, Jr., and Helen C. Kleberg Center for Molecular Markers—Identifying molecular markers of cancer that are key to earlier diagnosis and improved selection and monitoring of individual patient therapies.
- Systems Biology—Studying the complex interactions and integration of whole biological systems and constructing mathematical models with predictive capabilities.
- Center for Cancer Immunology Research—Investigating ways to direct immune system cells to kill tumors in the same way they destroy bacteria and viruses.
- Center for Targeted Therapy—Coordinating all stages of developing and testing new anti-cancer drugs to accelerate movement from lab to patient.
- Cancer Metastasis Research Center—Advancing understanding of how and why cancer spreads from one part of the body to another, with major focus on brain metastasis.
- Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging Research—Developing new technologies in molecular imaging to “see” cancer earlier and rapidly determine the effectiveness of a specific therapy.

Institute for Cancer Care Excellence

M. D. Anderson is creating the first comprehensive model for quality of care for cancer patients using the national Institute of Medicine healthcare criteria: safety, timeliness, efficiency, effectiveness, equitability and patient-centered.
Because it is a relatively new area of research and not “cure” directed, research funding is almost nonexistent. When available, it tends to support technology projects.
Examples of projects: 1) An electronic medical record specifically designed to address cancer issues in prevention, treatment and survivorship; 2) Education for efficient and safety-conscious interactions between physicians, nurses and pharmacists, a key to changing processes; 3) A Center for Cancer Economics to find new ways to relieve the cost burden of cancer care for patients and for providers; 4) Measurement of outcomes data (results of interventions) to be shared publicly to help cancer patients compare institutions and motivate care improvements in those institutions.
To find out which actions will yield the most benefit for all, funding for cancer care excellence research—the frontloading of change—must be accelerated. Until there is evidence-based data, change will come slowly, perhaps too slowly to capture the momentum from recent national attention and parlay it into widespread reshaping of the way cancer patients experience their care.

Education and Endowment

Advanced Scholars Program

Even the most talented new investigators confront uncertainty as they work to establish independent research programs in the face of highly competitive federal research budgets. To give junior scientists an edge in winning research dollars against their veteran counterparts, M. D. Anderson has established the Advanced Scholars Program. The program goes beyond traditional three-year fellowships to provide a fourth year of training. This enables participants to build the kind of experience and data that better ensures their success in securing research support.
The Division of Cancer Medicine conceived and is piloting the Advanced Scholars Program, which will eventually expand across the institution. The inaugural scholars represent the best and brightest of the division’s highly successful Hematology/ Oncology Fellowship Program.
While traditional fellowship programs often include clinical duties which limit research time, the Advanced Scholars Program enables exceptional rising scientists to focus 100% of their working hours on research.

Endowments

An endowment is truly a gift that keeps giving—providing vital support for faculty, students and programs in perpetuity through income generated by a never-expended principal. In turn, the donor is recognized for generations through a named fund.
A minimum $20,000 is required to establish an endowed fund, while certain types of endowments require higher minimum giving levels. Chairs ($1,000,000) enable recognition of high-caliber faculty to ensure continuing excellence in research and patient care; professorships ($400,000) support the holders’ own research and education while allowing them to train future generations; fellowships ($100,000 and up) develop the potential of junior physicians and scientists, encouraging focus on particular areas of cancer research, treatment or prevention; and lectureships ($50,000 and up) foster collaboration and facilitate the exchange of novel ideas and promising results.
M. D. Anderson seeks to build a major endowment program that will provide sustained funding for our most promising research projects and leverage for obtaining federal dollars. Endowments can provide broad support for our new institutes or other initiatives or be tailored for more specific programs within certain disciplines.

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) is a partnership between M. D. Anderson and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Additional collaborators include M. D. Anderson’s Virginia Harris Cockrell Cancer Research Center at Science Park and the Texas A&M University Institute of Biosciences and Technology.
The graduate school awards master’s and doctorate degrees in 21 areas of study to students from all over the world. Many of these students are key members of the laboratory research teams at M. D. Anderson and other institutions, where their ideas, enthusiasm and hard work fuel the research engine. Their mentors include nearly 300 M. D. Anderson faculty.
Continuing to attract exceptional students to the program and enhancing their training environment is a critical aim. Endowment funds are needed to provide stipends and fellowships to support these outstanding students, as well as the important programs and activities that supplement their coursework and laboratory research.

Odyssey Program

One of M. D. Anderson’s premier fellowship programs, Odyssey trains and supports the most gifted among the institution’s newest generation of cancer researchers. These outstanding fellows explore new areas of clinical, translational or basic research.
The Odyssey Program trains fellows from a broad range of disciplines and departments across M. D. Anderson, including molecular genetics, carcinogenesis, immunology, radiation physics and a dozen other areas. Interaction with senior colleagues is a hallmark of the program.
Odyssey is currently able to support only six fellows a year. Funded solely through philanthropic gifts, the program seeks to build its endowment and significantly expand the number of fellows—at an annual cost of more than $60,000 each.

Physician-Scientist Program

A physician-scientist is a medical doctor who treats patients and leads a laboratory research program. It is a difficult and expensive career path; as a result, physician-scientists are a rare breed. The scholar devotes 20% effort to patient care and 80% effort to developing an independent research program.
Donors are essentially helping to launch the careers of tomorrow’s oncology leaders, which can be an exciting prospect. Donors can meet the physician-scientists, tour their labs, learn about their research and support them as they devote themselves to Making Cancer History^®.
The program costs roughly $200,000 per scholar per year. Specifically, donor funds are used for the scholars’ research equipment, supplies and personnel; travel to conferences; and salaries. Program administration is paid by the institution.

Research Medical Library

An excellent library is fundamental to effective cancer research. The Research Medical Library at M. D. Anderson functions as the repository and distribution center for published findings, data and discoveries of physicians and scientists from all over the world.
On an average day, more than 800 people either visit the library in person or access materials through the library’s Web site. Monthly, almost 1,000 documents are retrieved in support of faculty research and clinical needs and delivered electronically in PDF format directly to the researcher’s desktop. Annually, more than 90,000 database searches are conducted. Library services include:
- One of the largest print collections of cancer-related materials in the world
- Organized access to more than 4,000 online journals and 100 biomedical databases
- Full access to the online journal collection of the Houston Academy of Medicine - Texas Medical Center Library
A new location on the 21st floor of the T. Boone Pickens Academic Tower provides more space, but philanthropic gifts are needed to enrich and broaden the library’s resource selection for an ever-expanding clientele.

Scholarships – School of Health Professions

M. D. Anderson’s School of Health Professions (SHP) is battling the growing shortage of medical technologists by offering bachelor’s degrees and certification in eight allied health disciplines, from diagnostic imaging to radiation therapy.
SHP programs are accredited or approved by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Services, the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs and the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists. M. D. Anderson is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award degrees at the baccalaureate, master’s and doctorate levels
Giving financially disadvantaged students access to SHP programs via scholarships affords them an opportunity to study under M. D. Anderson faculty who are renowned for their knowledge and technical expertise in the field of cancer care. The skills and experience our students amass as a result makes them highly employable.
SHP graduates are assured of the training required to excel in their fields. Increasing the number of scholarships would provide more students with access to this advantage, help fulfill M. D. Anderson’s education mission and address an escalating U.S. healthcare crisis.