Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Dana-Farber lands $10M grant for cancer imaging research

By Lori Valigra

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute was awarded a $10 million grant today from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) to support the expansion of its cancer imaging research program.

The grant will help establish the Molecular Cancer Imaging Facility, a $20 million research initiative to develop new molecular imaging probes. The South Boston facility will let physicians better diagnose and characterize cancer, choose targeted therapies, monitor treatment efficacy and improve the outcomes of adult and pediatric patients with cancer, according to a press release about the award. The expansion may create more than 100 construction jobs and 15 jobs to operate the facility.

Funding for the grant comes from the state’s 10-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative proposed by Governor Deval Patrick in 2007 and approved by the legislature in 2008.

“Molecular imaging holds tremendous promise for accelerating drug discovery by allowing more rapid assessment of drug efficacy in preclinical and clinical settings,” Dr. Barrett Rollins, Dana-Farber’s chief scientific officer, said in a statement. “Moreover, molecular imaging will play a key role in the delivery of personalized medicine, by allowing clinicians to determine whether specific drugs are effective in days instead of months.”

The new Molecular Cancer Imaging Facility will complement and expand several of Dana-Farber’s basic and clinical research enterprises that are focused on developing targeted cancer therapies.

Susan Windham-Bannister, president & CEO of the MLSC, said in a statement, “Our investment also will increase Dana-Farber’s presence in Boston’s Innovation District and create jobs.”