WASHINGTON, DC - In an effort to boost cancer research and advance the work of promising young researchers in Rhode Island, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today announced that Rhode Island Hospital will receive over $1.84 million in federal funding to support the continuation of its COBRE Center for Cancer Research Development (CCCRD). This federal funding will help bolster Rhode Island Hospital's technological infrastructure and allow the hospital to strengthen its leadership role in training the next generation of cancer research scientists.

According to Rhode Island Hospital, one fourth of all deaths in Rhode Island are attributed to cancer, which costs the state of Rhode Island an estimated $500 million annually.

"Rhode Island Hospital is nationally renowned for its pioneering efforts in stem cell and cancer research. This federal award will help solidify the center's leadership role in this critical field, which will benefit Rhode Island's scientific community and its economy," said Reed, a member of the Appropriations subcommittee, which oversees federal funding for NIH programs. Reed wrote a letter in support of Rhode Island Hospital's application earlier this spring. "This COBRE grant will help provide mentoring and support for promising young researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and help attract more talent and investment in this field."

"Research is a critical component of the academic mission of Rhode Island Hospital," said Timothy J. Babineau, MD, president and chief executive officer of Rhode Island Hospital. "Federal funding, such as this COBRE grant, is vital to the success of our research programs, enabling us to attract the best and the brightest physicians. This grant will help Dr. Douglas Hixson and his research team to develop cutting-edge technologies in the ongoing effort to develop better treatments, and ultimately a cure, for cancer."

In 2002, Rhode Island Hospital received an $8.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) to establish the COBRE Center for Cancer Research Development at Rhode Island Hospital. The mission of CCCRD, the first center of its kind in Rhode Island, is to develop the cancer researchers of the future by providing promising young investigators with senior faculty mentors and cutting-edge technologies in biomedical research.

Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) augment and strengthen institutional biomedical research capabilities by expanding and developing biomedical faculty research capability through support of a multidisciplinary center, led by a peer-reviewed, NIH-funded investigator with expertise central to the theme of the program. The centers promote collaborative interactive efforts among researchers with complementary backgrounds, skills, and expertise.