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The news coming out of The Hormel Institute recently is nothing but good news, especially during a time filled with more than enough bad news.

Dr. Shujun Liu, head of the Institutes’s Cancer Epigenetics & Experimental Therapeutics lab, was awarded a nearly $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant will fund Liu’s research into targeted leukemia therapeutics for the next five years, from which we hope comes the answers so many need in the continuing fight against cancer,

The grant is notable for a few reasons, but is especially positive because it comes at a time when only 10 percent of scientists who apply are receiving funding from the NIH. For Liu’s research to stand out in such a competitive market for ideas is astounding and proves in and of itself that Liu’s research stands on solid ground.

Very little in research of this kind is a sure thing, but it proves confidence in concept and we have every reason to believe that Liu will continue his pioneering work to reach the goal he’s been working towards the last several years.

“We are extremely proud of Dr. Liu for his important research,” said Dr. Robert Clark, executive director of the Institute. “This new grant from the National Cancer Institute at NIH, awarded at a time of limited funding and tremendous competition from across the US, reflects his dedication and significance of the study.”

And this is in our own backyard. This is just another example of the important work the Institute is doing and will continue to do so as to shine line on the darkness that is cancer.