Texas cancer agency under fire amid resignations

AUSTIN (AP) — Leaders of the state's $3 billion cancer-fighting effort want to reassure the public about the embattled agency's future after some of the nation's top scientists stepped down in protest over funding decisions.

Bill Gimson, executive director of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, said Tuesday that the agency will use its annual meeting in Austin to defend its peer-review process shaken by internal accusations of politics and favoritism.

Gimson says about one-third of the agency's nearly 200 external peer reviewers have recently resigned. Among them is Nobel laureate Dr. Phillip Sharp, who accused the agency of being bent on a new "politically driven" mission.

Gimson denies those accusations and says agency is committed to a "gold-standard" review process.

The meeting begins Wednesday.