CPRIT FAILURES

What exactly came out of the CPRIT experience so far and, we said this before, IT IS
lack of Vision, baldness and authenticity.   It was conformity to existing systems and some greed!
CPRIT was taken over by University fund raising people who spent more time imagining ways to funnel money to Universities without asking those Universities to deliver something CPRIT should have wanted.  Without definition of what was wanted by CPRIT, without a vision from CPRIT, there is no way to calibrate and measure University output.   Limiting the number of research applications by university should not have become the only control mechanism of waste at CPRIT.  How these research topics are relevant to the master plan at CPRIT and how much they will advance us toward cancer cure should have been the compass!     How they fit into the plan and vision at CPRIT.  It was shocking to me to hear the scientific leader at CPRIT saying she will not sit in meetings where funding will actually be attributed to avoid the ongoing fight among universities.  Who is watching the plan for cancer cure if any at CPRIT!  Once one has gotten the power it is time to shine by baldness and resistance to local undue pressures.  Rise above politics, do not bend to pressure because it may skew your outcome.  And clearly only the truth wins.  Carry yourself true to the master plan because it is your only true friend and Compass.  Religious people believe in the truth of the Gospel and not in the cloth and power of the pastor.  And a Pastor is good when his words stick to the bible.  Many pastors have been saved from politics within the church because the community support them, the community believe they speak the truth of the bible!

Those of us who have worked in mass implementation of public health program recognize the power of ANIMATORS in the adoption process of healthy behaviors.  Dear ABBY is an example.  Prevention programs need a GURU or two in Texas.   Allowing Survivorship programs to be disseminated in 4 or 5 locations throughout the state to acquire and develop such persona is critical.  People will not comply until they are convinced by messages from their leader/GURU.  Not everybody of course listen to a guru in a free society but those who will, represent a gain for our society as long as the message is improving health behavior.  2 months ago, CPRIT was still looking at how success will look like.

When it comes to search for a cure, it is an open race.  To send 42% of funds to one institution has no justification whatsoever.  It is a demonstration of being under the thumb and nothing else.  There is a miss opportunity here of grave consequences.  CPRIT should do like most big organization, regional offices with real power to give fund based on local needs and local constraints. This the best way to address the variety of population needs in Texas, and limit disparity variation in assistance to communities.  This concentration of power in Houston or Austin is not warranted and increase to susceptibility to political influence.  Regional Komen foundation offices have dominion over local programs.  Check with them!  Their central office still control what is going on.  But this way over 60% of tax money will not end up in one city (HOUSTON) as it is the case now at CPRIT.

let's give to CPRIT a better chance, a state dimension, people needs to know what is CPRIT.  When we speak to our colleagues about CPRIT, many oncologists look at us as if we dropped from the moon. Only a handful of doctors have heard of it!  CPRIT is a secret known only to few researchers.  And Universities want to keep it that way. Some offices are now coming to CRBCM to train on how to best access CPRIT portal for future applications,  Come on guys, 3 billions and you don't want people to know about!  Even Medscape wrote a piece about CPRIT only after the CPRIT debacle happened!

who has the vision for the cure?
who has the  baldness to create the new state wide CPRIT?
who will resist the power of the networking?
who wants all the people of Texas to get involved?
THAT IS THE LEADER NEEDED AT CPRIT!