The NU-CHERS Developmental Research Program (DRP) will serve as the incubator for novel, cutting edge, and competitive translational research of gynecologic cancer disparities. Centered on the theme of Contemporary Translational Approaches to Advancing Health Equity in the Detection, Diagnoses, and Treatment of Gynecologic Cancers, the DRP will identify and fund research pilot projects that utilize innovative clinical and translational research concepts and approaches that fall under DRP?s theme. These research projects will be nurtured by nearly all facets of the grant program, will be supported by ongoing career enhancement programming under the DRP, and will be well poised to seek larger-scale extramural funding or be submitted as a full research project under a P50 SPORE focused on gynecologic cancer disparities. The DRP Co-Directors will work with all areas of the overall grant program, including interacting with the Gynecologic Biospecimen Pathology and Administrative Cores for technical consult and biospecimen access and triage for all potential applicants and awardees; the Leadership Council, Internal Advisory Board, and Community Advisory Board for the review and funding of new projects; and the Leadership Council, Internal Advisory Board, and External Advisory Board for the ongoing evaluation of active funded DRP pilot projects.
DRP Specific Aim 1 : Through program-wide coordination, build research capacity by establishing the infrastructure, processes, and direction for a SPORE pilot funding mechanism to foster high-impact innovation in clinical and basic science research focused on gynecologic cancer disparities. A central focus of DRP award recipients will be the ability to conduct novel translational research that is high-risk high-payoff to this and future SPORE grants.
DRP Specific Aim 2 : Establish and support a career enhancement pipeline for early-stage and established investigators to enhance or refocus their career on translational research with a gynecologic cancer disparities focus. We will leverage and foster interdisciplinary and diverse collaborations between internal and external SPORE faculty, research project recipients, community clinic leadership, and community members.
DRP Specific Aim 3 : Track and evaluate the success of the DRP research projects to ensure further advancement in a full health equity P50 SPORE and other extramural funding mechanisms. We will utilize established and tested evaluation processes and methods to ensure all project teams are optimized for success in future research endeavors, with the ultimate goal of setting the stage for valuable contributions in molecular approaches to tackling gynecologic cancer disparities under a P50 SPORE.
The NU-CHERS? Developmental Research Program will develop and seed innovative research with a strong translational or clinical component that has the potential to evolve into a full P50 SPORE NU-CHERS research project or competitively obtain other extramural funds. Special emphasis will be given to projects that fall under the DRP theme of Contemporary Translational Approaches to Advancing Health Equity in the Detection, Diagnoses, and Treatment of Gynecologic Cancers. The DRP will work with all facets of the overall grant program to ensure interdisciplinary, integrated, and highly skilled teams of researchers are provided with ongoing career enhancement under the DRP and robust support from the shared resource cores under NU-CHERS.
