Summer 2013 : Moon Shots Program
Moon Shots Program
How team science aims to beat cancer
In September 2012, MD Anderson launched the Moon Shots Program, an unprecedented, comprehensive assault to significantly reduce deaths from cancer. The program comprises six teams of MD Anderson researchers and clinicians initially focusing on these eight cancers:
- acute myeloid leukemia (AML)/myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)
- chronic lymphocytic leukemia
- melanoma
- lung cancer
- prostate cancer
- triple-negative breast and high-grade serous ovarian cancers
Each moon shot team is pursuing innovative projects prioritized for greatest patient impact, while specialized scientific and technical platforms provide infrastructure and expertise.
The ultimate goal is to apply knowledge gained from this process to all cancers. Moon shot efforts will help support all other cancer research at MD Anderson, particularly with improved resources and infrastructure.
Estimated to cost $3 billion in the first 10 years, the program will receive funding from private philanthropy, institutional earnings, competitive research grants and commercialization of new discoveries.
More Stories From Promise

A message from Dr. DePinho
A word from the president

Lyda Hill commits $50 million to Moon Shots Program
Cancer Prevention Center to be named in honor of Dallas philanthropist

Private philanthropy boosts MD Anderson's Moon Shots Program
Donor commitments to unprecedented assault on cancer surpass $100 million

The medium and the message
e-Health is no longer a wave of the future - it's our reality

Tony's Prostate Cancer Research Foundation
Offering hope for a noninvasive cure

Survivors Say
Tom Bates is co-owner of Glendarroch Homes. A graduate of Texas
Christian University, he lives with his wife and four children in Fort
Worth.

iPromise
Ashley Loeffler, of Houston, is chair of MD Anderson's Advance Team, a
volunteer leadership board of "next generation" community and
business leaders. She's worked in the office of Texas Gov. George W.
Bush and Sen. Jeffrey Wentworth, in the development office at The
University of Texas at Austin and as campaign finance director of Texas
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. She and her husband Lance have three children.

Music video goes viral
Martin High School contributes to first pediatric colon cancer clinical trial

A rose like no other
The Dr. Marnie Rose Foundation celebrates a decade of funding brain
cancer research

No lump, still cancer
IBC survivor dedicated to fighting rare form of breast cancer

Under the Palms and on the Prairie
Polo events prove effective fundraisers in fight against cancer

Run broadens scope of awareness
Screening, education offer hope for colorectal cancer

MD Anderson's top nursing honor
Colleen Villamin claims 2013 Ethel Fleming Arceneaux Award

A generational thing
Scurlock Foundation continues tradition of making a difference

Brothers in beards
Septembeard urges men to 'be a hero' in fight against prostate cancer

Kick the butts
MD Anderson delivers anti-smoking message to students

Children's Cancer Hospital re-opening
The MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital's newly renovated and
expanded floor space brings together all pediatric treatment and
services on one floor along with Ronald McDonald Family Room areas, an
in-hospital school, a large play park, a kitchen, a teen room and other amenities.

Imaging pioneer takes on leadership roles
MD Anderson team member, physician-scientist David Piwnica-Worms, M.D.,
Ph.D., has assumed two leadership posts at MD Anderson: chair of Cancer
Systems Imaging and deputy division head, research affairs, for
Diagnostic Imaging.

MD Anderson welcomes new vice provost, science
Helen Piwnica-Worms, Ph.D., has joined MD Anderson as vice provost to
lead science research at the institution.

New provost, executive vice president arrives from Dartmouth
MD Anderson welcomed Ethan Dmitrovsky, M.D., in July as new provost and
executive vice president.

American Cancer Society honors Isaiah J. Fidler
Medal of honor goes to pioneer and leader in cancer metastasis

Mendelsohn elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
John Mendelsohn, M.D., director of MD Anderson's Sheikh Khalifa Bin
Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy and former MD
Anderson president, has been elected as a fellow of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences.

MET protein levels potential biomarker for aggressive colon cancer
Study moves researchers closer to personalized cancer treatment

When oxygen is short, EGFR thwarts cancer-fighting machinery
Prevents tumor suppressors in cells from maturing

Ibrutinib proves strong defense against mantle cell lymphoma
Latest results confirm high rate of response, remission

Bevacizumab offers no benefit for newly diagnosed glioblastoma
Findings disappoint brain cancer experts seeking effective therapy