Hormel Institute scientist awarded $4 million for leukemia research

Dr. Shujun Liu, head of the Cancer Epigenetics and Experimental Therapeutics lab and an Associate Professor at the Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota in Austin was awarded a major grant from the National Institutes of Health to research a new leukemia study.  Dr. Liu talked to KAUS News about what research the grant will support…

Dr. Robert Clarke, Executive Director of the Hormel Institute stated that it is quite an achievement to obtain funding from the National Institutes of Health with an extremely tightened federal budget environment…

The nearly $4 million grant will be distributed to the Hormel Institute over five years for the project.  Leukemia is a type of blood cancer caused by the rapid production of immature or abnormal white blood cells.  Acute myeloid leukemia is one of the most common leukemias with almost 20,000 new cases diagnosed each year.  The available treatments are not effective for all patients and many AML patients relapse and die from their disease.  Dr. Liu stated that the Institute’s findings will provide information and new therapies for patients that previously would be given a poor prognosis.