Cancer research needs sustainable funding from New Jersey, advocates say

The commission, created in 1983, will get $4 million this year as part of the $60.7 billion budget Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed in late June. But their allocation has varied widely over the years and was zeroed out entirely during former Gov. Chris Christie’s two terms, according to the advocates, who say stable funding is urgently needed. 

“I see this as an opportunity for a state that holds ourselves up as a beacon of innovation, science, and research. We should know that cancer research cannot operate effectively on year-to-year uncertainty,” said Quinton Law, government relations director for the American Cancer Society’s political advocacy arm, which is helping build support for the legislation.   

Existing state dollars allowed the commission to fund about a quarter of the grant requests it received in the latest funding cycle, Law told the New Jersey Monitor, supporting work at public and private universities, hospital systems, and research institutes. The $4.8 million the commission awarded between 2012 and 2015 also attracted $98 million in federal dollars, he said. 

“What are we leaving on the table, just because we don’t have the money?” he asked.  

Dr. Kenneth Adler, a blood cancer specialist and the commission chairman, said stable state funding is especially needed now that the National Institutes of Health, which has traditionally provided critical dollars for biomedical research, drastically cut funding for scientific research under the Trump administration. NIH grant funding dropped from $1.3 billion on average annually to $604 million in 2026, according to the Association of American Universities 

Dr. Yibin Kang, a molecular biologist at Princeton University who received more than $500,000 from the New Jersey commission starting in 2005, said the instability in federal funding is “deeply concerning” to researchers. Studies require long-term planning and labs make commitments to researchers that extend years, he said.  

“When researchers cannot predict whether federal funding will remain available, they naturally become more cautious about starting ambitious and creative projects, hiring young scientists, or pursuing innovative ideas that carry greater scientific risk,” Kang told the New Jersey Monitor.  

This research itself has direct benefits on New Jersey’s economy, Kang said, and can prompt discoveries that eventually advance patient care. The state funding helped him build a lab that has made critical discoveries around how breast cancer spreads, work that contributed to the development of multiple treatments and prompted him to co-found three biotechnology companies, he said.

While state funding can’t replace NIH support, Kang said, the cancer commission’s work plays an important role in supporting the scientific ecosystem.  

“Even relatively modest awards can allow investigators to kickstart a new laboratory and research program, test a new idea, generate preliminary data, support a talented young scientist, or bridge a temporary funding gap. Those investments can subsequently leverage much larger amounts of federal, foundation, and private funding,” Kang said.  

The New Jersey commission funds students at various academic levels working on cancer studies related to prevention, detection, treatment, survivorship, and more, Adler said. Last year it received 100 requests for research funding, of which 25 were approved, and it got 160 project proposals this year, Adler said, an increase he attributed to insecurity around federal funding.  

More than 50,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in New Jersey, according to Screen NJ, a public-private partnership that offers prevention and screening programs, and some 15,000 die, making it the second leading cause of death after heart disease. Roughly one-half of men and one-third of women will develop some form of cancer, with the most common forms being colorectal, lung, and prostate for men or breast cancer among women. 

New Jersey’s current budget invests millions in cancer treatment, with more than $41 million for the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, a nationally designated program operated by RWJ Barnabas Health, and at least $27 million for the South Jersey Cancer Program, run by Cooper University Health Care. Millions more is allocated for education, early detection, and screening programs, some run by Screen NJ.  

Sen. Robert Singer (R-Ocean), the lead sponsor of the research funding bill, said lawmakers routinely find money for their personal priorities, including tens of millions Democratic leaders set aside for the World Cup. Singer lost his mother to cancer when he was 7 and often hears from constituents struggling with the disease, he said, making cancer prevention and treatment a priority for him.  

“Something that is this important and that affects thousands and thousands of families that live and have grown up in New Jersey, and you can’t put at least $10 million toward it?” he said.  

The bipartisan bill, which has nearly two dozen sponsors in both the Senate and Assembly, passed the Senate health committee in May but has yet to be heard by an Assembly committee. Lawmakers are on break for the summer, and it is unclear when they will return to work in Trenton, given the political focus on federal elections this fall. 

Adler thanked lawmakers for the support they have provided over the years, including money to rebuild after the Christie era. But he said the solution is in the legislation, which would create a dedicated fund and allocate $5 million to general cancer research and $5 million to pediatric cancer studies.

Without a secure fund, support is “up to the whim of the governor in charge,” Adler said.

Law said the legislation also aligns with Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s goals to support research and job creation. Funding the work also helps researchers here secure some funding from the National Institutes of Health, even if less federal money is available overall, he said.  

“And if these people can’t get their projects funded here, where are they going to go? They’re going to go to other states. They’re going to go to other places, other countries perhaps. These are dollars that are leaving New Jersey,” Law said. 

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