The Kansas University Cancer Center has announced a new partner in its quest to achieve National Cancer Institute Designation.

It will work with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, with headquarters in White Plains, N.Y., to translate discoveries from LLS-funded researchers into clinical trials.

KU officials have said developing Phase I clinical trials, which deal with drugs being offered to humans for the first time, has been a key part of efforts to achieve designation as a National Cancer Center.

The partnership will initially bring $1.5 million from LLS to KU for the development of funded projects with the goal of moving blood cancer therapies into the development pipeline.