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Scientists eye slice of tobacco money
Tuesday, November 17, 1998 By Anita Srikameswaran, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
If a group of scientists has its way, almost $3 billion of the state's share of a settlement from tobacco companies will be channeled to several cancer research centers around the state.
That could add more than $20 million a year to the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's budget.
Yesterday's announcement that negotiators for eight states had struck a $206 billion deal over 25 years with the four biggest tobacco makers had people thinking about how the money should be distributed.
"What we're proposing, particularly to the governor's office and to the legislature, is to consider this as a major component of how to spend the money that comes into the state from the settlement," said Dr. Ronald Herberman, the institute's director.
He and representatives of Fox Chase Cancer Center, Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University, the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center, Temple Cancer Center, Penn State Geisinger Health System Cancer Center and the Wistar Institute have already opened discussions with government officials to get 25 percent of the $11.2 billion settlement for Pennsylvania, Herberman said.
The money could help build labs, buy equipment and hire scientists and fund research in its early stages. Federal money is difficult to obtain for any of these purposes.
Researchers found the possibility of having another funding source very appealing.
In May, pharmacologist Jill Siegfried began a $50,000 pilot project to find effective screening tests for lung cancer. With 10 times more money, Siegfried said, she could better prove what genetic and chemical factors identify people at high risk for lung cancer.
Right now, "we do things on a shoestring, try to get them going and then convince another funding agency that it's worthwhile continuing," said Siegfried, UPCI's director of basic research for the lung cancer program. Because research resources are limited, only one of five grant proposals she makes will get funded.
The proposal put forth by Herberman and his colleagues suggested that the state allocate funds based on each center's level of funding from the National Cancer Institute, which would indicate the worthiness of the institution's research programs. In other words, the center that has the most NCI funds would also get the biggest piece of the state pie.
"It provides a good yardstick for distribution without having a separate, complex system for allocation," Herberman said. Each center would decide how to dole out the money internally.
Pittsburgh's Cancer Institute receives more than $23 million annually from the NCI and is one of the best-funded centers in the country. The state would get about $400 million per year from the settlement, of which $100 million would go to the cancer centers.
He is optimistic about their chances for success, in part because portions of tobacco company settlements in Florida and Texas have been allocated for cancer research.
"The sense I have got so far has been very positive," Herberman said. "It is recognized here, as in other parts of the country, that cancer is one of the predominant problems associated with tobacco use and it is therefore viewed as very fitting to invest a substantial portion of the money to help deal with it."
Smoking also is associated with heart disease, emphysema and stroke.
Attorney General Mike Fisher has said that the money should be used for health care initiatives, according to his spokesman Sean Connolly. Billions of dollars have been spent treating illness and the settlement will be used to prevent future expenses.
"We have received numerous calls from health care entities seeking money," Connolly said. "The Attorney General brought the money to Pennsylvania. It's now up to the policy-makers to determine how to spend that money."
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