Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i to receive two awards from ARRA

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Sharon Shigemasa, (808) 586-3011
Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i
Posted: Oct 27, 2009

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Cancer Research Center of Hawai‘i (CRCH) will receive two awards of more than $1 million each over two years, funded under the federal stimulus package known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. These awards will be allocated through a National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Cancer Institute (NCI) special fund, from which approximately $100 million were made available to academic institutions and organizations to enhance their biomedical research efforts.
 
“The receipt of these two grants considering the competitiveness involved is a testament to the quality of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, its researchers and its staff,” said UH President M.R.C. Greenwood. “It is an affirmation of our strong belief in the importance and urgency needed in moving forward with the development of a new facility, and illustrates the significant economic stimulus that the University of Hawai‘i provides to the state through its research enterprise.”
 
Specifically, the awards will go toward supporting the hiring of two physician scientists to conduct translational research and complement the basic science at the CRCH. Translational research transforms scientific discoveries arising from laboratory, clinical, or population studies into clinical applications to reduce cancer incidence, morbidity, and mortality.
 
Said Dr. Michele Carbone, CRCH Director, “It is significant that the National Cancer Institute has awarded the Cancer Research Center two out of two grant applications that we submitted, while there were only a limited number of grants awarded amidst tremendous competition among 63 NCI-designated cancer centers and other academic institutions across the nation. I believe our selection affirms the NCI’s recognition that the CRCH is long overdue to develop and build our clinical translational research program and is providing the financial support necessary to move us closer toward achieving that goal.”
 
Added UH Mānoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw, “This success is reflective of the respect for our Cancer Research Center of Hawai‘i and is definitely great support in helping us move forward quickly.”
 
The ARRA funds are designated to hire two new faculty members appointed to independent tenure-track positions at the Assistant Professor and Associate Professor levels; provide start-up packages, which include supplies, equipment, and support for technical personnel; and develop pilot research projects. These new researchers will have joint appointments at the Cancer Center and at a community hospital. They will be provided at least 75 percent protected research time with the balance dedicated to clinical and patient-oriented responsibilities at the hospital to which they are appointed for clinical activities.