Project Purple establishes research grant

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Project Purple Chairman Dino Verrelli of Beacon Falls. –FILE PHOTO
Project Purple Chairman Dino Verrelli of Beacon Falls. –FILE PHOTO

BEACON FALLS — Project Purple announced the creation of a $250,000 research grant to Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York University School of Medicine.

Project Purple is a Beacon Falls-based nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and funds toward a cure for pancreatic cancer.

The grant will support a research project to identify determinants of immunosuppression in pancreatic cancer, according to a press release. The research project will be conducted by Dr. Kenneth Olive, assistant professor of medicine and pathology and cell biology at Columbia, and Dr. Dafna Bar-Sagi, professor of department of biochemistry and molecular pharmacology and professor of department of medicine office of science and research at NYU.

“This grant follows in our mission of helping to find a cure for pancreatic cancer and we are super excited to be partnering with the amazing staff at Columbia and NYUSOM,” Project Purple Founder and Chairman Dino Verrelli said in a press release. “This grant brings together two of the top scientists in the world battling pancreatic cancer research. We are excited to be partnering with both scientists and institutions to make this happen.”