DETROIT, MI – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm recently announced the 61 awardees, selected by the Michigan Strategic Economic Investment and Commercialization Board, who will share more than $100 million from the 21st Century Jobs Fund. Two Karmanos Cancer Institute researchers, Patricia LoRusso, D.O., director, Phase I Clinical Trials Program, and Neb Duric, Ph.D., professor of oncology, received $2.6 million and $1.6 million in grant money, respectively. The Karmanos Cancer Institute award constitutes nearly 10% of the total Life Sciences award dollars.

Dr. LoRusso and her colleagues will use their grant to expand the Phase I Clinical Trials Program at the Institute, the only Phase I Program in the state and one of only 14 in the country. The funds will add nearly 60 employees to the Phase I program, including physicians, nurses, research professionals, clinical care professionals and various support staff. Increasing the size of the Institute’s Phase I Program not only allows more patients to participate in cancer treatment research, but physicians will have the ability to test many more anti-cancer compounds currently in development. The grant will also allow the Program to increase the complexity of the Phase I Trials available to patients.

Dr. Duric’s grant will be used to support Computerized Ultrasound Risk Evaluation (CURE), a new breast imaging methodology based on the principles of ultrasound tomography. The technology will help to overcome the limitations of current breast imaging techniques, and could help detect breast cancer at its earliest stages. The new method, developed by Karmanos Cancer Institute researchers, does not use harmful radiation and does not compress the breast. Initially, the grant funds will be used to create new research-related jobs and will allow for the completion of the final developmental steps of the technology.

The money given by the 21st Century Jobs Fund will allow the Karmanos Cancer Institute to further its quest in becoming a top-ten cancer center in the next five years. By expanding its services and treatment options, the Karmanos Cancer Institute not only brings highly-skilled jobs to the City of Detroit, but also allows the organization to continue providing outstanding patient care.
Click here for more information about the grant for CURE.