On May 21, 2025, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) announced that it has approved prevention projects across the entire spectrum of CPRIT’s mission, including CPRIT Scholar recruitment grants, a wide array of evidence-based prevention programs, and funding for early-stage companies developing promising new treatments for cancer.

CPRIT awarded one of the eleven CPRIT scholar grants to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center to recruit Shixuan Liu, Ph.D. to Texas from Stanford University School of Medicine in California. Dr. Liu brings a unique background in molecular biology, cell biology, genomics, and computational biology to Texas.

The Oversight Committee also approved funding for six cancer prevention projects totaling almost $13 million. The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Erika L. Thompson, Ph.D., received a $975,000 grant to fund a community-based intervention program to increase the HPV vaccination rates for adolescents in Bexar County. HPV, or human papillomavirus, is a viral infection that can lead to several different kinds of cancer in men and women. Therefore, improving vaccination rates is an important and effective way to reduce cancer risk and help prevent HPV-related cancers.

The Oversight Committee also approved eight supplemental awards to Texas-based companies pursuing innovative cancer treatments or technologies.

Created by the Texas Legislature and approved by two statewide votes in 2007 and 2019, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) leads the Lone Star State’s $6 billion fight against cancer. CPRIT is the second largest public funder of cancer research in the U.S., following only the National Cancer Institute.