PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island Hospital will receive $1.84 million in federal funding to expand the facilities and training programs at the hospital’s Center for Cancer Research Development, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed announced yesterday.

The cancer center was established at Rhode Island Hospital, part of the nonprofit hospital group Lifespan Corp., in 2002 with a five-year, $8.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE). Its director is Dr. Douglas Hixson.

Since its establishment, the center has promoted cancer research by pairing young investigators with senior faculty mentors to work on biomedical research. Reed’s office said the additional funding will help expand those efforts.

“Rhode Island Hospital is nationally renowned for its pioneering efforts in stem cell and cancer research,” Reed, D-R.I., said in a statement. “This federal award will help solidify the center’s leadership role in this critical field, which will benefit Rhode Island’s scientific community and its economy.”

Reed’s office said he worked to secure the grant in his post as a member of both the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the Senate Appropriates Committee subcommittee that manages funding for all National Institute of Health projects.

Cancer is a leading cause of death in the Ocean State, accounting for a quarter of all fatalities, according to Rhode Island Hospital. These deaths cost the state an estimated $500 million each year.

Hospital executives at Rhode Island Hospital, who applied for the funding in the spring, said they were optimistic about the benefits the new funding will bring.

“Research is a critical component of the academic mission of Rhode Island Hospital,” Dr. Timothy J. Babineau, the hospital’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Federal funding, such as this COBRE grant, is vital to the success of our research programs, enabling us to attract the best and the brightest physicians.

“This grant will help Dr. Douglas Hixson and his research team to develop cutting-edge technologies in the ongoing effort to develop better treatments, and ultimately a cure, for cancer,” Babineau added.

In 2007, Rhode Island Hospital received a second COBRE grant worth $11.1 million over five years. It was used to establish the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence for Skeletal Health and Repair.

Additional information on the COBRE Center for Cancer Research Development at Rhode Island Hospital is available at Lifespan.org.