This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Huntsman Cancer Institute is seeking about $6.2 million in state money, in part to replace funding it had drawn in past years from a U.S. settlement with tobacco companies.
Mary Beckerle, institute CEO and director, said Wednesday that cancer research remains of utmost importance, especially given that an estimated 11,000 Utahns will be diagnosed with it this year.
"Huntsman is positioned to make a difference in this disease," Beckerle told state lawmakers Wednesday. "Research equals hope and one of the things that's striking ... we have in this state a place that integrates cutting-edge science and research of the top minds in the nation with clinical care."
Beckerle presented the institute's request to the Higher Education Appropriations Committee, highlighting several projects by institute researchers, including the discovery of a new drug that could halt bone damage from breast cancer.
The institute, owned and operated by the state of Utah, is the state's official cancer center, Beckerle said, and serves people across the Intermountain West.
The $6.2 million, in part, would help replace funding from the 1998 tobacco settlement that is going away this year, Tonya Papanikolas, institute spokeswoman, said in an email.
"We are concerned about maintaining those funds and have appealed to the state to help maintain that money we have lost," Papanikolas said.
The committee did not make a decision Wednesday, but Sen. Ann Millner, R-Ogden, called the institute "a crown jewel in our state."
"We're on the leading edge of beginning to find a way to impact these dreadful diseases that impact our families," Millner said.
Twitter @alexdstuckey
Editor's note: The owner and publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune is Paul Huntsman, son of Huntsman Cancer Institute founder Jon Huntsman Sr.