Texas State Capitol, AustinWIKIMEDIA, STUART SEEGERState leaders have granted permission for Texas’s embattled $3 billion cancer research agency to award 25 researcher recruitment grants that have been withheld due to concerns over how the grants were reviewed, reported ScienceInsider.
Yesterday’s announcement is a welcome piece of positive news for the state-funded Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), which has faced controversy over allegations of improper scientific review and political influence for the best part of year.
CPRIT’s troubles became public last May, when then-Chief Scientific Officer Alfred Gilman announced his resignation, citing concerns about the review of an $18 million research grant. By October, all 8 members of the scientific review council, along with roughly 100 peer reviewers, had also resigned. In December, following a recommendation by Governor Rick Perry, CPRIT imposed a moratorium on new grants until concerns had been addressed and confidence restored.
A state audit released this January found that CPRIT had awarded a total of $56.4 million in ...
