Liver cancer research receives multi-year funding
Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D.
LuZhe Sun, Ph.D.
The Clayton Foundation for Research is supporting, for up to five years, the development of a biorepository and new strategies for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is the most common liver cancer in adults. The gift provides $300,000 in research support each year.
The research team is interested in learning why the morbidity and mortality of HCC is higher in Hispanics in South Texas than in Hispanics from elsewhere in Texas and the U.S., as well as in other ethnic groups, said Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., professor of surgery at the Health Science Center. Dr. Cigarroa directs the research project with LuZhe Sun, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Cellular and Structural Biology.
“The mortality of this tumor is extremely high,” Dr. Cigarroa said, adding that researchers are already interpreting project data from DNA and RNA sequencing.
Marc D. Feldman, M.D.
The Houston-based foundation also is supporting the ongoing heart attack and stroke prevention research of Marc D. Feldman, M.D., professor of medicine and engineering. The foundation’s original five-year gift totaling $1.5 million in 2011 was renewed and increased in 2015, with an option to continue year to year after 2016.
The Clayton Foundation seeks to invest in scientists who are key leaders in medicine and have a vision to advance biomedical discovery that has far-reaching benefits to humanity.
