The renewal extends Purdue’s nearly five-decade record of NCI designation and positions the institute to reach its 50th anniversary as a federally designated basic laboratory cancer center—an achievement shared by only a small number of institutions nationwide.
West Lafayette, Ind. — The Purdue Institute for Cancer Research (PICR) has received $9.4 million in renewal of its National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG), extending nearly five decades of continued federal recognition for excellence in cancer research and setting the institute on a course to reach 50 consecutive years of NCI designation in 2028.
The award affirms PICR’s standing as one of just 74 NCI-designated cancer centers in the United States, and one of only eight designated as a Basic Laboratory Cancer Center. Purdue’s cancer institute is one of two basic laboratory centers at a public university and served as the only one for almost 40 years, occupying a distinct and indispensable role within the national cancer research ecosystem.
“Purdue’s identity has always been inseparable from its contributions to society, and cancer research is among the most consequential contributions a university can make,” said Mitch Daniels, Purdue president emeritus and incoming interim president. “For nearly half a century, this institute has advanced that effort across generations of scientific change, producing discoveries and technologies that have reached patients and shaped the field. This renewal is a recognition of that record and a mandate to deepen it.”
At Purdue, the institute’s approach reflects a broader institutional commitment to research built for long-term impact. “Sustained, high-impact, interdisciplinary research is central to Purdue’s growth as a leading research university,” said Dan DeLaurentis, Purdue’s executive vice president for research. “Through the work of the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research, we are generating new knowledge, developing transformative technologies, and forging a research ecosystem positioned to shape the next era of discovery in combating cancer.”
From first principles to lasting impact
Since its earliest days, the PICR has been guided by a clear vision: to make all cancers detectable, treatable and curable through groundbreaking scientific discoveries and the development of innovative therapeutics and diagnostic tools. As a basic laboratory cancer center, the PICR plays an essential role in the research landscape, generating knowledge and technologies on which tomorrow’s advances depend. The institute serves as an upstream engine of innovation, deepening the world’s understanding of the molecular mechanisms and biological systems that drive cancer development and translating those insights into novel technologies and clinical solutions that benefit patients.
“Every FDA-approved therapy, every diagnostic that catches cancer earlier, and every targeted cancer treatment that reduces harm to healthy tissue traces its roots back to fundamental scientific discoveries,” said Andrew Mesecar, Robert W. Miller Director of the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research and Walther Professor of Cancer Structural Biology. “This renewal reflects national confidence in the kind of rigorous, curiosity-driven research Purdue is known for, as well as our role and impact in translating our discoveries into new cancer treatments and diagnostics.”
Decades of discovery, real-world proof
Established in 1976 and first designated as an NCI center in 1978, the PICR has played an influential role in shaping modern cancer research. Work by current and former institute investigators has contributed foundational advances in areas such as discovery of protein tyrosine phosphatases, structural biology methodologies, and chemical synthesis strategies that underpin many modern cancer drugs.
Over time, those discoveries have progressed from fundamental insight to real-world impact. Over the past five years, Purdue-originated research has contributed to FDA-approved cancer imaging agents and a radioligand therapy now used worldwide, demonstrating how basic discovery at the PICR advances, often over years or decades, through disciplined translation and collaboration.
Across that continuum, PICR researchers have generated extensive intellectual property, formed startup companies, and sustained an unusually deep therapeutic development pipeline for a basic science center, spanning early discovery through preclinical validation and human and comparative oncology evaluation.
Interdisciplinary science at scale
One of the institute’s defining strengths is its deeply integrated, transdisciplinary model. The PICR unites more than 115 faculty members from 19 academic departments and seven colleges and schools at Purdue, bringing together expertise across biology, chemistry, biochemistry, engineering, computation, pharmacy, nutrition science, structural biology, and veterinary medicine. Combined, PICR faculty generate over $30 million per year in cancer-focused federal research funding.
That breadth is organized around three interlocking scientific programs: Cell Identity and Signaling; Targets, Structures and Drugs; and Drug Delivery and Molecular Sensing. These programs are supported by six shared resources that provide advanced capabilities in computational genomics, biomolecular structure determination, mass spectrometry, flow cytometry, biological evaluation, and genome editing.
This integration enables cancer research approaches, particularly in structural biology-driven drug design, molecular sensing, and engineering-enabled diagnostics, that are rarely found within a single institute.
Designed to translate
One of the distinctive contributions of the PICR to the network of 74 NCI-designated cancer centers is its ability to translate discoveries through commercialization and Purdue’s translational ecosystem including Boilermaker Health Innovations, which accelerates the development of PICR-generated technologies and therapeutics, and Purdue Innovates. Together, these mechanisms allow PICR discoveries to move efficiently toward patient impact. Over the last funding cycle (2020 to 2025), PICR faculty generated 92 cancer relevant patents, secured 30 licenses, and started 16 new companies.
Building tomorrow’s cancer research workforce
Beyond discovery, the PICR plays a critical role in training the next generation of cancer researchers. Through nationally competitive training grant programs, targeted pilot funding, mentoring and career development initiatives, the institute supports scientists at every career stage, from undergraduates entering cancer research for the first time to early-career faculty launching independent programs.
Those trainees carry the PICR’s emphasis on rigorous foundational science into research institutions, industry, and government laboratories across the country. That expanding network of scientists represents one of the institute’s most enduring contributions to the national cancer research enterprise.
Entering the next era
The CCSG renewal also reflects strong and sustained institutional commitment from Purdue University, including strategic investments in research infrastructure, shared resources, faculty recruitment, and philanthropic growth. With expanding partnerships, an increased emphasis on technology transfer, and a growing national profile, the PICR enters the new funding cycle positioned to deepen the science that has defined it for nearly half a century—and to accelerate the path from discovery to patient impact. As the institute approaches its 50th year of NCI designation, the mission remains unchanged: to ask the most fundamental questions in cancer science, and to build the knowledge that will power the next generation of cancer breakthroughs.