NORTHRIDGE : CSUN Cancer Lab Gets $50,000 Grant

A laboratory in which research on the reasons why cancer spreads, conducted in large part by undergraduate students, has received a $50,000 grant from the trust fund of Joseph Drown, builder of the Bel-Air Hotel.

Steven Oppenheimer said the Joseph Drown Foundation has contributed to the Center for Developmental Biology at Cal State Northridge before, but this is the largest grant so far and will be a significant contribution to the center’s estimated $132,000 annual budget.

In a time of dwindling federal funds for scientific research, such untraditional sources of money as private trust funds are becoming increasingly important, Oppenheimer said.

Researchers at the center will use the funds to continue investigations on sea urchin cells. Cancer spreads in part because cells lose their ability to adhere to each other. Oppenheimer’s studies are focused on learning the mechanism for cell adhesion, and the causes of its breakdown, he said.