American Cancer Society 4-year grant funds deeper look at risk factors associated with oil and gas development, and childhood leukemia
Jun 25, 2021
The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has approved funding for 42 research grants nationwide totaling $33.8M, including one grant in Denver. Grant applications undergo a rigorous, independent, and highly competitive peer review process. The newly approved grants will fund investigators at 33 institutions across the United States, including the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Grant-funded projects will begin on July 1, 2021.
Lisa McKenzie, PhD MPH, clinical assistant professor of research at of the Colorado School of Public Health, has received a Research Scholar Grant from the American Cancer Society. The four-year, $792,000 grant will help her team better understand the relationships between risk factors associated with oil and natural gas development and childhood leukemia and will ultimately provide evidence to inform primary prevention strategies.
“We are very grateful to the American Cancer Society for supporting our research,” said McKenzie. “With this generous support, we are conducting a population-based case-control study of 1,950 children born in Colorado, aged 2-9 years between 2002 and 2016, to better understand the relationships between risk factors associated with oil and natural gas development and childhood leukemia. Our study results will positively impact the prevention and control of childhood leukemia given the widespread potential for early-life exposure to environmental risks associated with oil and natural gas development, and the preventable nature of these risks.”
An interview with Lisa is now available on the Society’s Podcast Series: Theory Lab, available for download on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.
The American Cancer Society Extramural Discovery Sciences currently supports research in a wide range of cancer-related disciplines at over 190 institutions. With an investment of more than $5 billion since 1946, the ACS is the largest private, not-for-profit source of cancer research funds in the U.S., and has funded 49 researchers who have gone on to be awarded the Nobel Prize. The ACS primarily funds early career investigators, giving the best and the brightest a chance to explore innovative ideas at a time when they might not find funding elsewhere. For more information about cancer research supported by the American Cancer Society, please visit http://www.cancer.org/research.