Originally Released: October 14, 1999
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UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS GRANTS FROM THE NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

The University of Maryland School of Medicine has been awarded a prestigious planning grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for fiscal year 1999. The grant will enable the School of Medicine's Program in Oncology to further strengthen its research and clinical activities and make important progress in finding better ways of preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer.

The three-year, $790,000 award makes the School of Medicine one of only six medical institutions nationwide with active planning grants from the NCI. It brings the University of Maryland School of Medicine and its partner, the Greenebaum Cancer Center, a step closer to becoming an NCI-designated Cancer Center, part of an elite group of standard-setting institutions that perform strong basic and clinical research and provide comprehensive cancer care.

"This planning grant recognizes the high quality of our scientists, our innovative research and excellent clinical programs," says Donald E. Wilson, M.D., M.A.C.P, Dean, School of Medicine and Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland.

A priority of the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Program in Oncology is to translate research advances into clinical care, from laboratory bench to bedside. Major research areas include breast, prostate, oral/head and neck, lung and esophageal, and colorectal cancer.

Strong research initiatives are also underway in cancer control and prevention, molecular biology and genetics, experimental theraputics and viral carcinogenesis.

"We are very proud to receive this prestigious grant from the National Cancer Institute. It will assist us to further develop our research programs and make significant progress in the fight against cancer," says Sanford A. Stass, M.D., professor of pathology and medicine and director, Program in Oncology, University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Stass is also the director of the Greenebaum Cancer Center.

Two Additional NCI Research Grants Highlight UM Cancer Research Excellence

The University of Maryland School of Medicine is the only institution to have two investigators included in a new Early Detection Research Network formed by the National Cancer Institute. The network includes 18 researchers, funded with $8 million in grants for the first year, who head laboratories across the country which focus on developing methods of early detection and diagnosis of cancer.

The researchers are investigating biomarkers for early cancer; substances that could be the earliest warning signals that normal cells are on their way to becoming cancerous. This work may lead to new tests for prevention or earlier diagnosis for a better chance of a cure.

Stephen J. Meltzer, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, has received a five-year, $2.2 million NCI award to develop genetic tests for early detection, classification and treatment of cancers of the esophagus and stomach. William E. Highsmith, Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology, has received a three-year, $1.1 million NCI award to measure telomerase in blood and other fluids in patients with a variety of cancers and test that method to diagnose cancer and predict relapse.

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This page was last updated on: March 12, 2008.