The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, has announced a four-year, $5 million gift from the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation to support pancreatic cancer research.

The funding will bolster efforts to create an innovative pipeline linking patient, laboratory, and clinic with the aim of discovering and advancing novel diagnostics and therapies. To that end, the initiative will enable Salk scientists to analyze patient tumor samples in the laboratory, construct corresponding pancreatic tumor organoids, and screen compounds as potential drug precursors to find those that block tumor growth and progression.

According to the institute, pancreatic cancer is notoriously resistant to therapy and among the most devastating, in part because it is so difficult to diagnose. The condition is often asymptomatic until its later stages, leaving little time for intervention.

“This level of philanthropic investment will enable us to substantially accelerate [our] expert team’s high-risk, high-reward approach, expand our role as a leader in this area, and most importantly, potentially improve outcomes for patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer,” said Salk president Gerald Joyce.

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