Still another kind of PKA has no link with cancer. Cheng said his research will identify and compare the functions and structures of the two PKA types, which may potentially lead to the development of new anti-cancer treatments. Researchers funded by ACS have made outstanding contributions to our understanding and treatment of cancer, Cheng said. It is a privilege and honor to receive an ACS Research Scholar grant. With the ACS funding, we will be able to develop some novel approaches to address important biological questions related to cancer.
Applicants receive the start-up grants based on their research viability and individual potential.
The researchers use the financial support of the grants to develop preliminary project results that allow them to compete for larger national research grants. Cheng, in fact, benefited from an institutional research start-up grant earlier in his career. Dr. Alan P. Fields, director of the Sealy Center for Cancer Cell Biology and principal investigator of the ACS institutional research grant at UTMB, said the funding has greatly aided cancer research at the academic health science center. It has allowed us to fund junior investigators at the critical early stages of their independent cancer research careers. Both Cheng and Fields were highlighted in a recent ACS publication about Houston-Galveston area cancer researchers who receive funding from the organization.