One small step for man

MD Anderson launches Moon Shots Program to wipe out eight major types of cancer

Dr. Ronald DePinho, president of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson CancerCenter, announced the Moon Shots Program launch on Friday.
Photo by F. Carter Smith
A promotional video for the program likens the program to John F. Kennedy'sfamous 1962 speech, in which the president announced the mission for the moon.
M.D. Anderson expects the Moon Shots Program to cost $3 billion over the first10 years.

On Friday, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center announced the launch of the Moon Shots Program, an action plan that disrupts the paradigm and brings together teams of researchers and clinicians to streamline the conversion of knowledge to treatment.

As a top treatment facility for oncology research and care that harbors more than 18,000 employees, M.D. Anderson is uniquely suited to meet the challenges of the Moon Shots Program, which it promises will "significantly reduce cancer mortality in this decade, and ultimately achieve cure of several cancers in the years to follow."

"The Moon Shots Program is the first time a single academic medical center is attempting something of this magnitude," M.D. Anderson communications officer William Fitzgerald told CultureMap.

Although this knowledge-sharing system seems a no-brainer solution to the problem, this structure is a significant departure from the past, where infrastructures, funding and leadership varied from investigator to investigator.

New cancer-fighting strategies and technological capabilities that come out of the programs will eventually become part of the fabric of the institution.

Beginning in February 2013, funds and other resources will be driven toward six teams that will target the initial eight cancers of the program: acute myeloid leukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome; chronic lymphocytic leukemia; melanoma; lung cancer; prostate cancer; and triple-negative breast and ovarian cancers.

Each team will be supported by cross-functional platforms — including a center for co-clinical trials, therapy centers, early detection services, data capturing and storage — that will provide further expertise to leverage program investment.

New cancer-fighting strategies and technological capabilities that come out of the programs will eventually become part of the fabric of the institution.

The momumental effort was conceived by Dr. Ronald DePinho, who took the helm as president of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in September 2011. The Moon Shots Program's cost is anticipated to reach $3 billion over the first 10 years, with funding from grants, philanthropy and the commercialization of new discoveries.

"The Moon Shots Program holds the potential for a new approach to research that eventually can be applied to all cancers and even to other chronic diseases," DePinho said in a statement.

"History has taught us that if we put our minds to a task, the human spirit will prevail. We must do this — humanity is depending on all of us."

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hail hail

Self-driving Waymo robotaxis hit the streets in Houston

Waymo/ Facebook

Waymo is now offering driverless rides to Houstonians.

Waymo will begin dispatching its robotaxis in Houston and four more cities in Texas and Florida, expanding the territory covered by its fleet of self-driving cars to 10 major U.S. metropolitan markets.

The move into Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando, Florida, announced Tuesday, February 24, widens Waymo's early lead in autonomous driving while rival services from Tesla and the Amazon-owned Zoox are still testing their vehicles in only a few U.S. cities.

In contrast, Waymo's robotaxis already provide more than 400,000 weekly trips in the six metropolitan areas where they have been transporting passengers: Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, and Austin.

Waymo's cars soft launched service in San Antonio in November 2025, initially only offering the rides to employees. The company first began testing Alamo City’s roads the previous May as part of a multi-city “road trip” meant to map out roadways and help alleviate local concern over safety and other issues.

Waymo operates its ride-hailing service through its own app in all the U.S. cities except Atlanta and Austin, where its robotaxis can only be summoned through Uber's ride-hailing service.

The expansion into four more markets marks a significant step toward Waymo's goal to surpass 1 million weekly paid trips by the end of 2026. Without identifying where its robotaxis will be available next, Waymo is targeting a list of eight other cities that include Las Vegas, Washington, Detroit, and Boston while signaling its first overseas availability is likely to be London.

To help pay for more robotaxis, Waymo recently raised $16 billion as part of the financial infusion that puts the value of the company at $126 billion. The valuation fueled speculation that Waymo may eventually be spun off from its corporate parent Alphabet, where it began as a secret project within Google in 2009.

Although Waymo is opening up in four more cities, its robotaxis initially will only be made available to a limited number of people with its ride-hailing app in San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, and Orlando before the service will be available to all corners in those markets.

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This article contains additional reporting from CultureMap San Antonio editor Brandon Watson.

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