Developmental Research Program

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Developmental Research Program SUMMARY/ ABSTRACT The purpose of the Developmental Research Program (DRP) is to fund promising projects by investigators whose current work may not focus exclusively on endometrial cancer, but who propose highly innovative translational studies of endometrial cancer that could become full SPORE projects or compete successfully for funding outside of the SPORE mechanism. The DRP provides a unique venue for making available significant financial support, and for demonstrating active institutional support, through a program that is rapidly responsive to new ideas or initiatives. Moreover, this program is rooted in a spirit of collaboration espoused by the SPORE investigators, who have an extensive track-record of bringing investigators from other disciplines into the field of endometrial cancer research. The strength of the Developmental Research Program rests in its ability to make available financial support and access all the critical expertise and resources within the entire SPORE, including SPORE Cores. This will allow us to develop important collaborative, multi-investigator, multi- institutional research projects with the support of innovative, investigator-initiated projects that have the potential to flourish into reliable and productive translational research projects for the SPORE. Pre-proposals in the form of 1 page letters of intent will be solicited by the Program, and applicants with pre-proposals that are highly competitive for the goals of this program will be invited to submit a full proposal for review. The DRP Directors will help investigators submitting proposals to formulate relevant translational research aims and plans, as many applicants may not have prior expertise in this type of research. This process will therefore be a major educational activity that is further anticipated to stimulate translational research in endometrial cancer and encourage the participation of both basic science researchers and clinical investigators in translational research. The DRP will be led by Thomas Burke, M.D., the founding Endometrial Cancer SPORE PI and current Vice President of the MD Anderson Cancer Network, and Wei Zhang, Ph.D., a Professor in the Department of Pathology with specific expertise in cancer biology, genomics, and construction of miRNA signaling networks. Russell Broaddus, M.D., Ph.D., SPORE Co-PI, will provide oversight to the DRP. The DRP is critical to the continued success of the SPORE, as shown by four former DRP awardees now involved as research project Co-PIs in this application, and a fifth is an important co-investigator on a SPORE project. Two other former DRP awardees will provide their scientific expertise by serving on the External Advisory Board.