New prostate cancer research is underway at The Hormel Institute thanks to a pair of grants funded by Bowling for the Battle, organized by the Tom Gillard family and Farmers Insurance.

The grants were established by the Institute and awarded internally to scientists with innovative ideas for advancing answers to prostate cancer. Each grant provided $25,000 a year for up to two years to fund initial research. The initial research done with these seed grants will then be used to apply for larger national grants.

The grants wer awarded to:

•Dr. Yibin Deng’s “Development of a Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.”

•Dr. Rendong Yang’s “Identifying and Overcoming AR Inhibitor Resistance in Patients with Metastic Prostate Cancer.”

“Our family has a passion to find a cure for prostate cancer,” said Laura Maschka, Tom Gillard’s daughter and chief organizer of the annual March fundraiser. It’s exciting to see the funds we have raised making a difference for the many affected by this much too common cancer. We are honored to be part of prostate cancer research at The Hormel Institute.”

Bowling for the Battle raised over $56,000 in 2018 and nearly $167,000 since 2015.

“We are very grateful to Bowling for the Battle and every group and person who supports it,” said Dr. Zigang Dong, executive director of The Hormel Institute. “These donations are extremely important as otherwise this new research would not take place. Every person who is part of Bowling for the Battle can be thankful they are part of accelerating answers to prostate cancer.  Our scientists are excited to begin their projects and we all look forward to the discoveries these donations and grants make possible.”