Orlando, FL – June 16, 2010 – M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando will continue to forge new pathways in cancer research thanks to recent grant awards totaling more than $1.5 million. The three grants awarded to M. D. Anderson – Orlando researchers come from the Florida Department of Health James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program and the Bankhead-Coley Cancer Research Program. The funding will be used by M. D. Anderson Orlando’s Cancer Research Institute to find new methods to diagnosis and treat bladder and lung cancer.

“We are thrilled to receive these valuable dollars to fund the work that we are doing here in Central Florida,” said Clarence Brown, III, MD, President and CEO, M. D. Anderson – Orlando. “Our Cancer Research Institute has many ongoing and future research projects that are focused on developing new cancer fighting drugs and new treatments to save lives. These funds will help to steer these projects and work toward our ultimate goal of a cure for cancer.”

Charles Rosser, M.D., M.B.A., Philip Arlen, Ph.D., and Orena Tirpak, Ph.D. will serve as the lead investigators on these grants.

M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando

M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando, part of Orlando Health, is affiliated with The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. U.S. News & World Report recently ranked M. D. Anderson Cancer Center as the top cancer treatment center in the U.S. and has ranked it as one of the top two cancer centers for the past 13 years. Orlando Health, a 1,882-bed community-owned, Florida not-for-profit organization established in 1918, annually serves nearly 2 million Central Florida residents and more than 4,500 international patients. More information is available at www.mdacco.com.