MD Anderson awarded $30M grant to advance cancer research

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- MD Anderson Cancer Center says it is able to advance its mission of making cancer history after a New York philanthropist committed a $30 million grant to support research at the Houston hospital.

The grant is the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation's largest to date and will be used to establish a new fellowship program and an endowment that will fund eight two-year research fellowships at $100,000 each.

Dr. Ronald DePinho, president of MD Anderson, says the transformational gift will help the cancer center attract and nurture promising new scientists.

Sabin, who serves as president of Sabin Metal Corporation, says the gift if meant to allow MD Anderson to focus on research rather than raising money for their work.

"I wanted to provide a vehicle so that highly qualified researchers at the world's premier cancer center don't have to spend 50 percent of their time fundraising in order to sustain innovative projects," Sabin says.

Applications for the fellowship program are now being accepted and will be announced next year.