AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Gov. Rick Perry has appointed former Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson to the committee that oversees the state's $3 billion cancer research fund.

Wilson was named Friday to the oversight committee of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. The fund was established by Texas voters in 2007 and is the nation's second largest pot of cancer research funding behind the National Cancer Institute.

The fund for cancer research, prevention and treatment is to be awarded over a span of 10 years.

Wilson is senior vice president of public affairs for Luminant, a Texas energy company. He also once played a role in Perry's Texas Enterprise Fund, designed to attract businesses to Texas.

Wilson's term expires Jan. 31, 2015.

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