CPRIT oversight committee approves eight prevention grants, OKs FY2026 prevention RFAs; Texas Cancer Plan set for December release

The CPRIT oversight committee on Nov. 15 approved eight prevention grant recommendations and authorized staff to negotiate and sign contracts, the agency said during its regular oversight meeting.

The committee voted by voice to accept the Program Integration Committee’s slate of eight recommended prevention awards, covering cancer screening and early detection, primary prevention and dissemination of CPRIT-funded interventions. Program staff said the eight projects together total roughly $13.5 million and will expand screening and navigation services across dozens of rural and medically underserved counties in Texas.

Ramona Magan, prevention program officer, described the slate: breast cancer screening and navigation by The Rose in Houston serving 45 counties; two lung cancer screening and navigation projects (Moncrief/UT Southwestern and MD Anderson models) covering more than three dozen rural counties; cervical cancer screening and follow-up services from UTHealth–Houston; two colorectal screening programs (UT Austin Central Texas FIT mail-out program and an MD Anderson expansion from 51 to 64 counties); a primary prevention project at UT Austin to screen and intervene on unhealthy alcohol use in FQHC networks; and a dissemination project led by Baylor College of Medicine to build a web-based toolkit and training for expanding low-dose CT lung screening (TexCare). Magan said the projects emphasize patient navigation, bilingual outreach where appropriate, and collaboration with community partners.

The committee also voted to delegate contract negotiation authority to the CEO and staff to execute the recommended awards.

Members approved releasing the three proposed FY2026 prevention RFAs that staff presented: (1) dissemination of CPRIT-funded prevention and control interventions (up to $450,000, up to 3 years); (2) primary prevention of cancer (up to 36 months with separate new/initial expansion/maintenance tiers); and (3) screening and early detection (up to 5 years for clinical screening services per national guidelines, with requirements to serve medically underserved counties and support diagnostic follow-up). The RFAs will be published for the FY2026 cycle as part of the agency’s regular grants calendar.

Committee members pressed staff on how CPRIT measures impact beyond counts of services. Magan and Carlton Allen, program manager for prevention, said CPRIT collects output metrics—numbers of screenings, diagnostics, precursors and cancers detected—and produces an annual economic assessment (the next edition was described as forthcoming). They cautioned, however, that comparisons to the general population are difficult because many CPRIT-funded programs reach underserved and uninsured people who have different baseline risks and access barriers; staff pointed to travel distances of up to 200 miles for some diagnostics in rural counties as an access constraint.

Texas Cancer Plan interactive site

Carlton Allen demonstrated an online, interactive 2024 Texas Cancer Plan scheduled for public release in December 2024. Allen said the web-based plan includes an executive summary, statewide goals, evidence and data sections (with public-health-region analysis and stratification by race/ethnicity and sex), and actionable strategic steps targeted to different stakeholder groups (policy makers, health systems, community organizations). Allen said users will be able to explore cancer incidence and mortality by region and race/ethnicity, view goals-at-a-glance, and access Texas and national resources. The committee was shown a live demo of the site prototype and was told the plan will be updated more frequently than prior PDF iterations.

Why it matters

Committee members and advisory participants emphasized that the prevention awards and the plan address access gaps in rural and underserved parts of Texas and aim to scale evidence-based screening, navigation and prevention activities. The prevention projects approved at the meeting are intended to expand geographic coverage (several projects specifically increase county coverage) and to strengthen follow-up to diagnostics and treatment navigation for uninsured and underinsured patients.

What’s next

Staff will finalize contract negotiations, commence award execution after contract signature, and publish the three FY2026 prevention RFAs. The Texas Cancer Plan interactive website will be publicly released in December 2024, and staff said they will email the plan to stakeholders and legislators and issue a press release at publication.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to excuse Dr. Patel: approved by voice vote (motion carried). - Motion to approve minutes of Aug. 21 and Sept. 25 oversight committee meetings: approved by voice vote (motion carried). - Motion to approve PICC’s eight prevention award recommendations and delegate contracting authority to the CEO/staff: approved by voice vote (motion carried). - Motion to approve the three proposed FY2026 prevention RFAs: approved by voice vote (motion carried).

Attributions: Ramona Magan, Carlton Allen, Miss Doyle (CEO)

Ending note

Committee members thanked prevention staff and advisers for the slate and for the upcoming Texas Cancer Plan website, noting the plan’s potential to help coordinate statewide prevention efforts and to make CPRIT-funded work more accessible to local partners.