Cancer Center Innovation Awards

The Houston Methodist Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center Innovation Award was launched in 2019 to promote transdisciplinary teamwork within the center. This internal peer-reviewed funding mechanism is designed to promote pilot projects that solve cancer challenges in a team-based approach. The research strength of each application is determined by how well the science fits within the cancer center's strategic research programs with priority given to multi-PI research projects.

2019 Awards

  • Identification of Epigenetic and Immune Biomarker Changes During the Progression of Non-Alcohol Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)-related Hepatocellular Carcinoma

  • Harnessing Immune-checkpoint Therapy for Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

  • Characterization of Breast Microbiome in Triple-negative Breast Cancer and Prediction of Immunotherapy Response

2020 Awards

  • LINE-1 Retroelement Expression and Lung Cancer Immune Evasion

  • Nuclear Receptor 4A1 (NR4R1) Antagonists as Immunotherapy Mimics for Targeting PD-L1 in Colon Cancer

  • Nano-immunotherapy Targeting Macrophages to Arrest Liver Metastasis in Ovarian Cancer

  • Exploration of Early-Stage Biomarkers of Urothelial Cell Transformation Induced by Chronic Arsenic Exposure

  • Multi-Omics Profiling Of Squamous Cell Lung Cancer

2021 Awards