LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center Researchers Receive $3.1 Million NIH Grant to Study Pancreatic Cancer

Five-year award to LSU Health New Orleans received a rare perfect NIH impact score of 10

July 16, 2026

LSU Health New Orleans has received a five-year, $3.1 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to support pancreatic cancer research led by investigators in the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center.

The multi-investigator project, led by Drs. Samarpan Majumder, associate professor – Department of Genetics, and Rinku Majumder, professor – Department of Interdisciplinary Oncology, will examine the role of Protein S, a physiological anticoagulant, in pancreatic cancer. The researchers aim to better understand how Protein S influences both tumor growth and cancer-associated thrombosis, with the goal of identifying new therapeutic strategies that target two major drivers of pancreatic cancer mortality.

“This recognition reflects the kind of bold, high-impact science needed to take on one of the most difficult cancers we face in Louisiana,” said Dr. Lucio Miele, Director of the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center. “This work has the potential to move the field forward by translating discovery into real progress for patients and bringing new hope to families across Louisiana and beyond.”

The proposal was among the highest-ranked applications in the NIH review cycle, underscoring its scientific rigor, innovation and potential impact. For Louisiana, the award represents a meaningful step forward in building the research strength needed to confront one of the state’s deadliest cancers closer to home. For the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center, it reflects growing national competitiveness in cancer research, builds momentum in pancreatic cancer science and strengthens the foundation for the Cancer Center’s pursuit of National Cancer Institute designation.

Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest forms of cancer, with a five-year survival rate of approximately 13%. In Louisiana, incidence and mortality rates exceed national averages, while high rates of obesity and diabetes further increase risk. Together, these factors underscore the urgent need to expand pancreatic cancer research, strengthen access to advanced treatments and clinical trials and bring more lifesaving discoveries to patients across the state.

This grant is the first NIH R01 on pancreatic cancer led by a Louisiana investigator since the mid-1980s, and the first ever at LSU Health New Orleans, marking an unprecedented achievement for the state.

Additional co-investigators on the grant from LSU Health New Orleans and the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center include biostatistician Denis Danos, PhD; pancreatic cancer surgeon Omeed Moaven, MD; pathologist Luis Del Valle, MD; Eric Lazartigues, PhD, director of the Cardiovascular Center of Excellence; and Xia Huijing, PhD, associate professor, research.

The Research Project Grant (R01) is NIH’s original and historically oldest grant mechanism. It provides support for health-related research and development aligned with the agency’s mission.

To learn more, visit www.lsulcmchealthcancercenter.org.

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About the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center
LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center has reimagined, reinvented, strengthened, and modernized how Louisianians tackle a cancer diagnosis and more importantly, how they can prevent it. Home to more than 100 cancer researchers, the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center’s research programs through the Stanley S. Scott Cancer Research Center of Excellence directly benefit the Louisiana community by conducting focused research necessary to better prevent cancer, detect it earlier when it can be more effectively treated, and to develop the new cancer therapies of tomorrow.  Through funding and critical partnerships such as those with LSU, LCMC Health, Tulane University, and Louisiana Cancer Research Center, LSU LCMC Health Center brings together cancer care and research in Louisiana to focus on the specific challenges the state faces to reduce the inordinate cancer burden.

LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans (LSU Health New Orleans) educates Louisiana's health care professionals. The state's health sciences university leader, LSU Health New Orleans, includes a School of Medicine with campuses in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette, the state's only School of Dentistry, Louisiana's only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSU Health New Orleans faculty takes care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research, the LSU Health New Orleans research enterprise generates jobs and enormous annual economic impact. LSU Health New Orleans faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment or cure disease.