In the ninth round of Distinguished Cancer Clinicians and Scientists awards, the Georgia Cancer Coalition named 19 new Distinguished Cancer Scholars, awarded from $50,000 to $150,000 in funding annually for five years.  
     Appointments include: 7 from Emory University; 1 from Georgia Institute of Technology, 1 from Georgia State University, and 1 from St. Joseph's Health System in Atlanta; 1 from the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon; 3 from Medical College of Georgia in Augusta; and 5 from the University of Georgia in Athens. Sponsoring institutions provide matching funding.
            Begun in 2001, the Georgia Cancer Coalition's Distinguished Cancer Clinicians and Scientists program now has 119 active scholars. In fiscal year 2008, Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholars were responsible for securing $47 million in privately and federally funded research grants to the state of Georgia.         

       In 2010, Cancer Research Awards made possible by the State Income Tax Check-Off program will be open to cancer researchers studying any type of cancer. The Georgia State legislature revised the program, broadening the Georgia Cancer Research Fund awards to better reflect Georgia's comprehensive approach to cancer research.
       Funding had been restricted to scientists researching the causes, treatments, and cures for breast, prostate, and ovarian cancer. Initiated by the Georgia State Legislature in 2000, the program has generated 55 awards with funding of more than $2 million dollars. Cancer Research Awards provide seed money for pilot studies which have the potential of attracting larger, more prestigious national grant awards. 
            "This amendment should broaden the appeal to donate to all Georgians, regardless of the type of cancer that has impacted them, " says Bill Todd, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Georgia Cancer Coalition. "We see the potential to raise more money and leverage those contributions with federal or private funding." 
              Read more here about Cancer Research Awardees

 

 

               Veena N. Rao, PhD, professor and co-director, Cancer Biology Program, Morehouse School of  Medicine, is pictured in some billboards around Atlanta promoting the Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady.