BY SHARON H. FITZGERALD

Edward and Barbara Netter

When physicians and medical researchers see the acronym ACGT, they think "adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine," the string of four nucleotides that constitute DNA. That's why Edward Netter gets such a kick out of the name he came up with for the organization he founded with his wife, Barbara, in 2001 — the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT®).

"By then, I had probably read 20 books on gene therapy, and ACGT is universal," he says. Netter trademarked the new alliance's name.

A successful business executive, Netter credits his lay interest in medicine to his first cousin and dear friend, the late Dr. Frank H. Netter, one of the world's leading medical illustrators of the human body and how it works. "Frank would explain surgeries to me, because he would attend all the operations with the number one surgeon in any area of medicine," he recalls.

Netter's medical curiosity and reading on cancer led him to one conclusion: "Scientifically, 100 percent of all cancers are caused by a missing or defective gene. Being an analytical businessman, I just concluded that, well, if that's the case, some form of gene therapy may solve the problem." Thus, he launched the Connecticut-based Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, which this month celebrates five years and more than $14 million given to cancer researchers nationwide.

It's not easy to get an ACGT grant. So far, out of 258 applications representing 97 institutions, 24 grants have been awarded. Eligible are scientists in United States higher-education and nonprofit laboratories. "Our grants are usually half-a-million to a million dollars," Netter explains. "The reason we picked that number is because we don't want the grantees to get small dollars; otherwise in a month-and-a-half, they're out hustling again for money."

Annual applications are subjected to rigorous peer review by independent scientists, and first-round survivors, usually about 50, then move on to the ACGT Scientific Advisory Council for evaluation. Then about 20 finalists are ranked by another set of unaffiliated reviewers, and the top four or so are funded. Researchers who don't make the cut receive more than a "thanks anyway."

"We try to help them along to tell them what they need to do to fix it. It's educational and, of course, we don't charge anything for that," Netter says.

Not only does ACGT fund the research of seasoned scientists, it also reserves some money annually for its Young Investigator Award. Recipients must be working toward a full professorship and conducting independent research. "They can't be working under somebody else," Netter says. "It's their idea, and it's their job to do whatever the heck they said they were going to do." The three-year award may be renewed annually on a noncompetitive basis.

The three other award categories are:

1. Investigators Award for Gene Therapy for Lymphoma and Leukemia

2. Investigators Award in the Clinical Translation of Gene Therapy for Lung Caner

3. Investigators Award in the Clinical Translation of Anti-Angiogenic Gene Therapy for Cancer (strangling cancer cells by cutting off their blood supply)

Netter raises funds separately for ACGT overhead and administration, so when individual philanthropists, corporate benefactors and foundations donate to the alliance, they know their money is aiding scientific discovery. Additionally, no more than 10 percent of a grant may go toward indirect costs. "We want the money to go to real science, and we want the institutions to financially participate," he says, adding, "We are trying to get closer to a solution scientifically, and some of our grants demand that they go into clinical trials." Meritorious findings must be published, and ACGT garners a percentage of intellectual property rights recovery; that money is pumped right back into research.

"That's the way we'll find answers," Netter says.