Cell Identity and Signaling Research Program (Project-001)

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Cell Identity and Signaling Research Program Project Summary Since the last competitive renewal, the long standing Cell Growth and Differentiation Program, which had been in existence since 1993, was reorganized to the Cell Identity and Signaling (CIS) Program. In response to concerns expressed in the 2009 CCSG review, the Cell Growth and Differentiation Program Leaders, Senior Leadership, and Executive Committee conducted a full programmatic review in conjunction with the External Advisory Committee. A consensus was reached to reorganize the Program to address review concerns and enhance collaborative interactions. The reorganized and refocused CIS Program required new faculty recruitment to strengthen the reorganized Program and the mission of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research (PCCR). The reorganized CIS Program serves the PCCR as the central component for basic discovery in cancer cell biology. To do this, CIS leverages Purdue University foundational strengths in the biological sciences, medicinal chemistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and nutrition science, to address critical topics in cancer cell biology. Specifically, the overall mission of the CIS Program is to investigate key molecules that impact signaling pathways and gene expression programs, and to understand how cellular identity is determined or altered. CIS members are committed to understanding what is needed to maintain cellular identity and correcting the identity crisis that cancer cells undergo. The CIS membership represents 7 different Purdue academic departments and 5 colleges, and has grown from 26 members to 33 members through the addition of 14 new members since the previous CCSG review. The CIS Program has a current portfolio of ~$4.3 million (direct costs) of NCI and other peer-reviewed, cancer-related support. As a result of PCCR support and the programmatic changes initiated by the CIS Program Leaders, CIS collaborative publications have dramatically increased with intra-programmatic publications at 8% (~38% increase) and inter-programmatic at 25% (~68% increase); inter-institutional collaborations are at 17%, providing an overall strong collaborative publication rate of ~43%. The CIS Program is structured to address the issue of cellular identity by focusing on two major Research Clusters: Signaling and Cellular Growth Control and Regulation of Gene Expression. CIS Program members also share the common goal of focusing on basic science to identify and characterize key molecules for cellular processes that can be translated into cancer solutions. The biological expertise and cancer targets that CIS members study allow them to develop collaborations within the CIS Program and among members of the other PCCR Research Programs, adding considerable value to the PCCR.