U-M Hospital gets $63M for cancer research

Darren A. Nichols / The Detroit News

Ann Arbor -- The University of Michigan Hospital has been awarded a $63 million grant for cancer research, the largest award to the school. It was announced this afternoon.

University Hospital is the home of the Southwest Oncology Group, a clinical research cooperative group that designs and conducts trials of new cancer treatments and prevention methods.

The award from the National Cancer Institute was announced today by Anne F. Schott, Southwest Oncology Group executive officer, and U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn. Schott is associate professor of internal medicine at U-M.

"This grant is a tribute to the exemplary work of the people that make Michigan a leading institution," Dingell said in a statement. "The Southwest Oncology Group's research saves mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, and we all benefit from them getting additional investment to do more of their fine work."

The Southwest Oncology Group's six-year grant totaled about $120 million. The majority of the funds will go member institutions nationally to defray costs of bringing patients into clinical trails and supporting investigators leading up to those trials, the release said.  "While the funding numbers are impressive, they don't tell the whole story," said Medical School Dean James O. Woolliscroft. "The U-M Medical School also gains enormously from serving as home to SWOG in terms of recognition and enhanced opportunities for our faculty to influence the direction of cancer research on a national level."

Founded in 1956, the Southwest Oncology Group administers trials of new cancer treatments to about 1,500 patients at 41 sites throughout the state. Other centers include the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit and the Grand Rapids Community Clinical Oncology Program's member hospitals.