Experimental Therapeutics Program (Project-003)

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EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS PROGRAM ABSTRACT The Experimental Therapeutics (ET) Program of Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) is organized to facilitate transdisciplinary collaboration and to accelerate the progress of patient-oriented research to clinical translation and care of patients with cancer. The Program is organized into two main research themes: Drug Discovery/Drug Delivery and Clinical Research. Program members work to discover new agents that can be developed into drugs used to target cancer cells, develop second-generation polymeric carriers of anticancer drugs, design macromolecular targeted therapeutics with selective inhibitory effects on various types of malignancy, and develop drug-free macromolecular therapeutic constructs to increase efficacy of currently used therapeutics. Program members also ensure the execution of clinical research at HCI and the translation of important Cancer Center discoveries to human applications. Program members are also active in the leadership and conduct of clinical trials, including investigator-initiated trials. This clinical research focus aligns with the goals of NCI to develop and conduct state-of-the-art cancer treatment and advanced imaging multi- institutional clinical trials to evaluate new cancer therapies and related clinical approaches across a broad range of populations and cancer types. Program members are engaged in the effort to transform the previous NCI Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Program into a consolidated and integrated National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN), by providing clinical trials leadership and access to vitally important accruals among patients in the Intermountain West. The goals of the program are to: 1) provide new approaches to individualized cancer treatment as well as the most up-to-date clinical treatments via investigator-initiated therapeutic, imaging, and imaging-guided clinical trials; 2) foster bidirectional translation of discoveries between the laboratory and the clinic through collaborations and scientific synergy among ET program members, other program members, and HCI practicing clinicians; 3) develop novel therapies to meet unmet clinical needs in cancer through collaboration and interaction with the HCI multidisciplinary disease groups and disease-oriented research teams. The 39 ET Program members are drawn from 11 different University of Utah departments in the School of Medicine and Colleges of Pharmacy and Science. The Program includes 24 professors, seven associate professors, seven assistant professors, and one instructor, with 11 PhDs, 22 MDs, and six MD, PhDs. Funding includes $14.8M in 2013 total costs (NCI: 28%, other NIH: 20%, other peer-reviewed sources: 15%). From 2009–2013, ET members published 550 peer-reviewed papers, of which 28% involved collaboration with other Cancer Center members and 66% involved external partnerships.