UTRGV lands one of five statewide grants to bring cancer trials to the Valley

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley has landed one of five statewide grants aimed at expanding access to cancer clinical trials in rural and underserved communities, bringing the Rio Grande Valley’s first comprehensive oncology clinical trials infrastructure to the region.

The $877,627 grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas will fund the UTRGV Rural Oncology Clinical Trials Accelerator at the recently opened UT Health RGV Cancer and Surgery Center in McAllen.

UTRGV and the University of Texas at Tyler were the only University of Texas institutions selected for the inaugural Rural Clinical Trial Accelerator program.

University officials say the initiative will allow more Valley patients to participate in national cancer clinical trials closer to home, reducing the need to travel to Houston, San Antonio and other major medical centers for experimental treatments.

“This is a major milestone not only for UTRGV, but for the entire Rio Grande Valley,” said Dr. Diane Nguyen, division chief of Oncology and medical director of the UT Health RGV Cancer and Surgery Center. “For too long, many of our patients have had limited access to clinical trials and novel cancer therapies close to home. This grant allows us to begin building that opportunity right here.”

Expanding access to care

An estimated 9,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed in the Rio Grande Valley each year, according to UTRGV. Common diagnoses include breast, prostate and colorectal cancers, and local cancer rates are projected to rise by 16% over the next decade.

Because clinical trials are often concentrated at major research hospitals, many South Texas patients have historically had limited access to experimental therapies without traveling outside the region.

The new accelerator will create the staffing, processes and support systems needed to recruit and enroll local patients into national oncology clinical trials.

“We cannot fully understand how treatments work for our communities if our communities are not represented in the research,” said Dr. Subhash Chauhan, director of the South Texas Center of Excellence in Cancer Research at the UTRGV School of Medicine. “This funding changes that. It creates opportunities for patients in our region to participate in cutting-edge cancer research without leaving home.”

Building on new cancer center

The accelerator will operate from the UT Health RGV Cancer and Surgery Center in McAllen, which brings medical, radiation and surgical oncology services together with diagnostics, research and clinical trial capabilities.

“We are creating something that has never existed in the Valley before,” Nguyen said. “Our goal is to ensure patients can receive advanced cancer care, participate in groundbreaking research and remain close to their families and support systems during treatment.”

The award was part of CPRIT’s May 2026 funding round. Since 2009, CPRIT has awarded more than $4 billion for cancer research and prevention efforts across Texas.

According to UTRGV, the latest award brings the university’s total CPRIT funding since 2021 to more than $11.3 million.

“This is transformational for the Valley,” Chauhan said. “We are building a foundation that will impact generations of patients to come.”