UCLA Brain Cancer Center Nets $11.4M Research Grant, Lauded Among Best In Nation

LOS ANGELES – The brain cancer program at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the UCLA Brain Tumor Center have been designated a Specialized Program of Research Excellence by the National Cancer Institute, making it one of only five brain cancer programs nationwide to receive this status, along with substantial research funding, it was announced today.

The designation comes with an $11.4 million five-year grant that recognizes UCLA's brain cancer program as one of the best in the country, according to a Jonsson Cancer Center statement. The program supports research into the prevention, detection and treatment of one of the most lethal and deadly cancers, which often receives far less funding than other types of cancers, it said.

The SPORE designation is the second for the Jonsson Cancer Center. In October 2002, the prostate cancer program was designated a center of research excellence and was renewed in August 2013 for its third five-year funding cycle, receiving an $11.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute.

''These grants promote cooperation among scientists in different disciplines, and UCLA's program will partner researchers and clinicians to translate basic research from the laboratories into patient clinical trials much more quickly and effectively,'' said Dr. Linda Liau, professor and chair of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and director of the UCLA Brain Tumor SPORE Program.

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