Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center Support Grant

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ABSTRACT, Overview and Essential Characteristics The IU Simon Cancer Center is an NCI-designated Cancer Center that is dedicated to cancer research, education, and patient care for the citizens of Indiana and beyond. Since our last review, the IUSCC has substantially increased the depth and breadth of our science and cancer relevant research as evidenced by over a 38% increase in NCI funding (Direct Costs), a 176% increase in our multi-PI grants while attracting over 30 new investigators in cancer research to our institution. We are the home to the country's first pathway-driven SPORE that focuses on pediatric tumors and the birthplace to three active cancer consortia, including one that links researchers from North America and sub-Saharan Africa. The IUSCC is composed of two basic programs, Hematopoiesis and Hematologic Malignancies (HHM) and Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis (TMM), and two translational programs, Experimental and Developmental Therapeutics (EDT) and Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC). We define our catchment area as the entire state of Indiana as patients come from each of the 92 counties and 89% of the counties have at least one patient entered on clinical trials. Our community outreach and engagement activities have focused on the urban and rural populations of Indiana with the diseases with the highest mortality in the state, (i.e. lung, breast and gastrointestinal cancers) as well as behavioral risk factors, which adversely impact screening and prevention (e.g. tobacco and HPV vaccinations). We focus on developing novel approaches for screening, treatment and symptom science using "precision medicine" and expanding work in bioinformatics and medical informatics to address the increasing complexity of understanding the genomic and clinical data. We embrace the vision of increasing the research workforce in Indiana and globally through education from "Teens-to-Tenure" and the integration of clinical and translational research in our strategic plan. This strategic plan, which has its underpinnings with education and impact to our catchment area, is composed of four pillars that are foundational to the IUSCC. These pillars include: 1) Biology to Bedside Research; 2); Precision Medicine; 3) Prevention, Early Detection and Population Health: Local-Global Approaches; and 4) Health Care Disparities, Survivorship, and Symptom Science.