The UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCDCCC), a consortium with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL), is a matrix organization under the aegis of the UC Davis Health System and University of California, Davis. Two hundred and four members are organized into six programs, supported by eight shared resources, and led by Senior Leadership in order to use transdisciplinary, translational, and transformative research to address the following problems: With a rapidly aging population, 40 million Americans over the age of 65 are alive today and 390,000 will die from cancer this year. In 15 years, approximately, 74 million Americans of this age will be alive and cancer mortality will be ~730,000/year. The present methods by which new cancer therapies have been developed have met with a disappointing failure rate; therefore, improved translational methods are needed. So too are integrated programs that combine physical sciences, biomedical technology, and functional imaging to develop new therapies and delivery modalities as well as methods for functional evaluation and enhanced detection to determine, in a non-toxic fashion, if therapies will work. Two main foci are used to address these problems: 1) Reducing disparities in the cancer burden 2) Tackling advanced cancer by adapting molecularly targeted therapy through our patient derived xenograft program (PDX) and canine patients to truly develop personalized medicine. Each of these uses a multi-disciplinary approach, combining expertise from across programs (Molecular Oncology, Comparative Oncology, Cancer Therapeutics, Population Sciences and Health Disparities, Prostate Urothelial Cancer, and Biomedical Technology), leveraging the UC Davis expertise (e.g., School of Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Biological Sciences, Department of Biomedical Technology), and with external partners (the Jackson Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Foundation Medicine). Seven Innovation Groups enhance collaborative interactions and proposals with focus on translating basic and technological findings into grants and investigator-initiated trials (IITs). Beyond that, the UCDCCC?s robust clinical trials program enables these discoveries to be translated into patient benefits. The portfolio consist of NCI awards to fund Phase I, II, and III trials, COG and NCI Comparative Oncology Trials Consortium trials, and a strong portfolio of IITs. These are implemented by a cadre of clinical scientists (11 of whom were recruited in the past funding period) who function as the interface of translational and clinical research. The catchment area (13 counties surrounding Sacramento county) is benefited through, among other activities, a city-wide early phase clinical trials program and the UCDCCC Cancer Care Network, through which the resources and expertise of a comprehensive cancer center are brought to disadvantaged and rural areas while keeping patients in their home communities. Finally, in this world of ever-changing cancer care delivery models, combined with an increasing numbers of patients seeking help and increasing complexities of treatments available, we are building a robust cancer supportive/psycho oncology program.
Cancer and its effects are an ever-increasing problem at the population and individual levels. The UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center's research is aimed at reducing this burden through cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment that is truly precision and personalized. Unique research strategies include the use of patient-derived xenografts, canine clinical trials, and state-of-the-art imaging, all of which is focused on translating discoveries into innovative clinical trials that ultimately improve the lives of patients and families with cancer.
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