The Wistar Institute Cancer Center presents four Type II Shared Resources in this application: Bioinformatics, Genomics, Molecular Screening, and Proteomics. During the past project period the Cancer Center made substantial investments in the Type II Shared Resources, utilizing over $5.5 million in capital funds and equipment grants for equipment upgrades and facility improvements. These Resources function as engines, integrated components ofthe research being conducted by Cancer Center members. The Type II Resources have demonstrated a significant impact to the scientific objectives of the Cancer Center, contributing to 153 of 382 (40%) of the unique cancer-related publications reported by the three scientific Programs. Following a comprehensive realignment of all of its Shared Resources by the appointment of dedicated leadership as described in the Cancer Center Administration section of this application. Shared Resources were grouped as Type I or Type II, reflecting the intensity of collaborative input of their services. Type II Shared Resources provide a higher intensity of collaboration and impact on service, requiring an initial consultation to define the scope of service and remain consultative throughout the service delivery. For many projects. Type II Shared Resources participate in experiment design for sample preparation, services often need to be adapted to address specific scientific problems, and frequently the resulting complex datasets need to be reviewed with the user followed by further data analysis. Regular correspondence and method modifications are required throughout the delivery ofthe service in order to determine the appropriate course of action. Therefore, a distinctive feature of Type II Resources is a substantial amount of individualized, project-driven consultative time and effort provided by Resource staff to users. Accordingly, it is usually impractical for such services to achieve full recovery of operating costs through chargebacks. Clear benchmarks and objective review criteria were introduced in order to enable timely oversight, scientific impact, quality of service, and financial strength for each Shared Resource. Regular evaluations of scientific impact for the Cancer Center (i) and sustainability of services (ii) for each Resource, guide the decision-making process for the Shared Resources. Overall Type II Shared Resources represent clear engines for research as their impact on innovation and discovery is inherent to the individualized nature of their services.
The multidisciplinary nature and extraordinary complexity of modern cancer research require technologically advanced approaches that support refinement of the experimental question, customization of the most appropriate research tool and consultative review of data analysis and interpretation. Type II Shared Resources offer these services to Cancer Center investigators as an integrated and scientifically-driven extension of their research laboratories.
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