Developmental Therapeutics Research Program

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

UWCCC Developmental Therapeutics (DT) Program Summary Co-Leaders: Glenn Liu, Shigeki Miyamoto, and Jing Zhang PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The mission of the UW Carbone Cancer Center (UWCCC) Developmental Therapeutics (DT) Program is to improve cancer patient outcomes by discovering new targets, developing therapeutic agents and biomarkers, and translating this research into early phase clinical trials. The DT Program provides the translational direction not only for DT members, but for other programs within the UWCCC (e.g. GEM, VR, TM). Clinical trial data and resources inform our understanding of response and resistance mechanisms and enable the identification of new therapeutic targets and treatment strategies to improve clinical outcomes. The DT Program has 59 core members, representing 18 departments and 5 different schools/colleges. Research impacts of DT members are evidenced by research awards totaling over $22.5M in annual direct cost of peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed funding (including $3.45M NCI, $6.2M cancer-related other NIH agencies, $4.97M peer-reviewed non-NIH sources, $7.9M non-peer reviewed funding) and a significant number of publications (1228 publications, 18% of which result from intra-programmatic collaboration and 24% from inter-programmatic work). A key component of the new UWCCC Strategic Operating Plan is to further strengthen and develop Innovative Therapies and Cancer Biomarkers. Consistent with this strategic goal, the thematic aims of the DT Program are to: 1) discover new molecular targets for cancer therapy; 2) develop new agents and biomarkers; and 3) translate new therapies and biomarkers into clinical trials. To achieve this goal, it is critical to have a very strong program that discovers, develops, and translates novel interventions and biomarkers. To this end, members of the DT Program come from basic science, applied science, and clinical departments. This program has expertise ranging from basic discovery (molecular pathways and targets), to development (drugs/assays/biomarkers), to early clinical translation application (Phase 1 clinical trials). Translational and clinical research DT program members apply intra- and inter-programmatic research discoveries in clinical trials, performing the majority of first-in-human or early phase clinical trials, while individual disease-specific research teams (Disease Oriented Teams) focus primarily on phase 2 and 3 studies. DT members lead or participate in all clinical research groups facilitating both translational and reverse-translational opportunities.