Cancer Cell Signaling Prgm

Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond VA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The Cancer Cell Signaling (CCS) program is a newly formed program resulting from the restructuring of the former Cancer Cell Biology program into two more cohesive programs [the other being the Cancer Molecular Genetics program (CMG)]. The CCS program consists of a multidisciplinary group of 18 investigators from 6 academic departments from the School of Medicine and the College of Humanities and Sciences, who share a common interest in elucidation of cellular and molecular signaling events governing neoplastic cell behavior and survival. They also share the overarching scientific goals of: 1) examining the role of bioactive lipids in tumor formation; 2) identifying key signaling pathways that are perturbed in cancer cells; 3) understanding the interactions among metabolites, inflammation, bioenergetics, genes, and the environment that affect tumorigenesis; and 4) identifying potential therapeutic targets and strategies based upon an understanding of cancer cell signaling and to develop a rational basis for combining inhibitors of these. The CCS program also has a strong pre-clinical thrust with investigators utilizing xenograft and transgenic models seeking to develop treatments involving agents that act by modulating various signal transduction networks. The CCS program has a funding base of roughly $6.8 million dollars in annual direct support, of which $6.25 is from NIH and other peer-reviewed funding sources. The funding base includes 9 funded projects from NCI with a total of $1.4 million in annual direct costs. CCS fosters the development of intra and inter-programmatic interactions by organizing seminars and regular meetings among the entire program membership, as well as focused discussion groups with overlapping research interests that have led to numerous co-publications and new collaborative grants. The success of this broad, interdisciplinary approach to cancer research is demonstrated by the track record of CCS program investigators with 260 publications since 2008 of which 15% represent intra-programmatic collaborations, 34% represent inter-programmatic collaborations, and 5% both intra and inter-programmatic collaborations, and in developing initiatives that have progressed from basic laboratory studies to 8 multi-institutional clinical Phase I/II trials with other Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Massey Cancer Center (MCC) programs.