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State MnDRIVE funds supported Minnesota Cancer Clinical Trials Network, officials tell committee
Summary
University witnesses said MnDRIVE funding helped build a statewide clinical trials network that placed research staff at 24 community sites, increased access to trials and supported pilot outreach that raised colorectal screening among Native American participants.
University health researchers told the House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee that state MnDRIVE appropriations seeded a Minnesota Cancer Clinical Trials Network that expands access to clinical research across Greater Minnesota and the Twin Cities.
Doug Yee, medical director of the Minnesota Cancer Clinical Trials Network and a medical oncologist, said the network grew with state support into a system now operating at 24 clinical sites staffed by about 156 personnel. The network, he said, opened 85 unique clinical trials in fiscal year 2024 and reached about 1,400 Minnesotans through outreach and enrollment activities.
“The support from the states seeded this because I think we have really created a very unique opportunity,” Yee told the committee, noting Minnesota is home to two National Cancer Institute‑designated comprehensive cancer centers — the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic. Yee said the network’s funding is used primarily to provide research staffing at partner sites that previously lacked capacity to open clinical trials.
University budget director Julie Tonneson told the committee the MnDRIVE rider for cancer clinical trials was funded at $8,000,000 for the biennium (roughly $4,000,000 per year). Yee said the network’s appropriation primarily pays for personnel and partner site support; additional research work on network projects is often funded by federal grants or partners’ own funds.
Yee described a randomized pilot outreach project to increase colorectal cancer screening among Native American patients. In that trial, he said, the “outreach” group received a culturally tailored mailed stool blood‑test kit plus reminder calls; the outreach arm’s completion rate within six months was roughly 20% versus 3% in usual care, a difference Yee described as a 16.8 percentage‑point increase.
Committee members asked whether MnDRIVE funded only the network or also supported complementary research. Yee said MnDRIVE funding supports network staffing and partner awards and that many trials conducted through the network also draw on federal or other grant funding. He and Vice President for Research and Innovation Shashank Priya said partner institutions receive much of the MnDRIVE‑funded staffing and that the network was deliberately designed to expand clinical research access beyond major centers.
Why it matters: Committee members pressed for a clearer accounting of how state special appropriations are used. University witnesses described the cancer portion of MnDRIVE as a capacity investment — seeding staffing and infrastructure at community sites so Minnesotans statewide can participate in clinical research without traveling significant distances.
