Winship Cancer Institute Cancer Center Support Grant

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University (Winship) is the only NCI-designated cancer center in Georgia, which is now the eighth most populous state and has the largest land area among states east of the Mississippi River. As the main tertiary cancer care and cancer research institution in the state, Winship has committed its four research programs as supported by its six shared resources to address the specific challenges associated with the cancer burden in Georgia. These challenges include: high tobacco usage and incidence of tobacco- related cancers; high proportion of cancer patients who are African American or black and/or have significant cancer disparity issues in their care, prognosis, and/or outcome; and low health literacy levels. Winship's mission is to lessen the burden of cancer for the citizens of Georgia, its primary catchment area. This will be accomplished by: (1) seeking greater insights into the molecular, genetic, and epigenetic basis of cancer; (2) discovering new knowledge that drives improvements in cancer detection, prevention, and/or therapy; (3) developing or defining novel therapeutic targets and/or agents as a pathway to better cancer therapies; and (4) studying and implementing population-based strategies to lessen the cancer burden in the state. The 164 Winship core members are actively engaged in one of four Winship research programs, all of which have a strong emphasis on transdisciplinary research: Cancer Cell Biology, Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics, Cancer Prevention and Control, and Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics. Winship's members are supported by six shared resources: Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Shared Resource, Cancer Animal Models Shared Resource, Cancer Tissue and Pathology Shared Resource, Emory Integrated Genomics Shared Resource, Emory Integrated Proteomics Shared Resource, and the Integrated Imaging Shared Resource; and two developing shared resources: Winship Research Informatics and Intervention Development, Dissemination, and Implementation Developing Shared Resources. Winship members are currently supported by $84.8M in total research funding (as of 3/31/2016) awarded via Emory University. Winship members Curran and Bruner serve as PIs on two NCI awards to the NRG Oncology Foundation for a total of $25.6M in support of clinical research infrastructure. Patient enrollment in Winship's interventional and non-interventional trials continues to increase, especially among patients from under-represented minority groups, and these activities have contributed to the FDA- approval of several novel anti-cancer agents during the present funding period. Winship has outstanding institutional commitment, with more than $200 million in institutional support committed over the next five years, a level almost twice that committed in 2011. Winship enjoys the same reporting line and organizational position as Emory's schools of medicine, public health, and nursing. Winship is uniquely positioned to apply its scientific strengths, outstanding membership, robust infrastructure, strong institutional support, and comprehensive training programs to fulfill its mission of lessening the burden of cancer on the state of Georgia and beyond.