CANCER GENETICS AND EPIGENETICS

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Program 1. Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics (CGE): DNA damage, genetic mutations, genomic instability and alterations in DNA/chromatin modifications that modify gene expression are all critical events that contribute to the development of cancers in humans. The primary themes of the CGE Program reflect a major emphasis on basic science investigations directly related to oncogenesis. The CGE Program's four main thematic areas are: (1) DNA damage, repair, mutagenesis and genetic instability; (2) epigenetics, including DNA and chromatin modification and chromatin remodeling; (3) chromosome instability and nuclear architecture; (4) cancer genetics and functional genomics. The aims of the CGE Program are: (1) To elucidate the underlying molecular and biochemical mechanisms that result in the establishment and maintenance of genetic instability during tumor development and progression. (2) To elucidate and understand how epigenetic modifications of DNA and chromatin structural components impact gene expression programs and other nucleic acid transactions during tumorigenesis. (3) To understand the mechanisms underlying chromosomal aberrations, allelic imbalances and alterations in nuclear architecture and their contributions to multi-step tumorigenesis. (4) To identify and characterize novel oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes and to develop genome-scale discovery and analysis platforms and computational models to identify genetic loci and genetic variants involved in tumorigenesis. The CGE Program is comprised of 26 members from 10 departments within the School of Medicine and Emory College. Currently, there are 24 funded program members with total support of approximately $9 million per year, of which NCI funding represents $3.9M ($2.6M direct). From 2003-2008 the CGE program members published 400 articles. Of these total publications, 39 (9.75%) are intraprogrammatic collaborations and 82 (20.5%) are interprogrammatic collaborations. From 2006-2008, CGE members published 183 articles. Intraprogrammatic collaborations account for 21 (11.5 %) and interprogrammatic collaborations account for 39 (21.3 %) of these publications.