Roswell Park Researchers Receive Nearly $5 Million in Grant Support for Cancer Research Efforts

BUFFALO, NY — Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (Roswell Park) is proud to announce that several faculty members have collectively received $4.9 million in grant funding from federal agencies and other sources. These grants help fund important research that aims to develop new ways to prevent and treat cancer and improve our patients’ quality of life. The recent grant recipients are:

Deborah Erwin, PhD, Director of the Office of Cancer Health Disparities Research, Department of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, received a four-year, $2.6 million grant award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study factors influencing why African-Americans are less likely to receive referrals for colorectal cancer screenings, despite having the highest incidence and mortality rates of any ethnic or racial group. Dr. Erwin’s research will involve African-Americans age 50 and older in the Buffalo/Niagara region and New York City.

Dhyan Chandra, PhD, Assistant Professor of Oncology, Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, received a four-year, $984,285 award from the NCI to study how metastatic prostate cancer cells eventually become resistant to known chemotherapy agents, looking to determine new strategies to target these cells and improve treatment.

Kelvin Lee, MD, Chair of the Department of Immunology, received a five-year, $900,000 grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to study and define the molecular components that lead to chemotherapy resistance and determine novel strategies for targeting multiple myeloma.

James Mohler, MD, Associate Director, Senior Vice President for Translational Research and Chair of the Department of Urology, received a three-year subcontract award of $298,191 for a Department of Defense-sponsored project. Dr. Mohler will explore genetic variations in mitochondria and prostate cancer progression in Caucasian-American and African-American men.

Santosh Patnaik, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, received a two-year, $275,000 grant from the NCI to be shared with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to develop a test to identify patients with early lung cancer who are at higher risk for post-treatment recurrence to help guide decisions regarding aggressive surveillance or intervention.

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The mission of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1898, Roswell Park is one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email AskRoswell@Roswellpark.org. Follow Roswell Park on Facebook and Twitter.