Cancer Molecular Genetics Prgm

Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond VA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The Cancer Molecular Genetics (CMG) program is a newly formed program resulting from the restructuring of the former Cancer Cell Biology program into two smaller and more cohesive programs [the other being the Cancer Cell Signaling (CCS) program]. Members of this program share a common interest in the genetic and epigenetic changes that underlie the molecular and cellular events contributing to cancer development and progression. The primary scientific goals of the CMG program are to define the genes contributing to cancer development and progression, to identify the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms regulating expression of these genes in normal and cancer cells, to determine their role in governing the properties and behaviors of cancer cells, to identify mechanisms by which identified defects in cancer cells can be exploited to selectively induce cancer cell death, and ultimately to use this knowledge to develop innovative approaches for the treatment of currently intractable cancers. The CMG program consists of a multidisciplinary group of 22 investigators from eight academic departments from the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry. The CMG program has a funding base of over $5.4 million dollars in annual direct support, of which more than $4.2 million is from NIH or other peer-reviewed funding sources. Members of the CMG program have multiple well-established and productive collaborations, both within the program and with members of other Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Massey Cancer Center (MCC) programs, which have resulted in jointly funded research initiatives and high-impact publications in recent years. Greater than three-quarters of the 189 publications from CMG program members in the past grant period resulted from collaborations with other MCC members. 52% of which involved intra-programmatic, 48% involved inter-programmatic collaborations, and 2 1% involved both intra and inter- programmatic collaborations. The central goal of the CMG program is to facilitate achievement of the overarching goal of the MCC, namely to move laboratory advances into the clinic for improved diagnosis and therapy of cancer. By gaining a better understanding of the underlying molecular basis of cancer development and progression, it will be possible to develop the next generation of cancer therapeutics.