04 NEURO-ONCOLOGY (NO) PROGRAM ABSTRACT The Neuro-Oncology Program (04) has been a multidsciplinary, vertically integrated, basic, translational and clinical research program in the Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) since 1986. Its primary cancer focus includes molecular, cellular and systems biology of malignant glial tumors with a secondary emphasis on metastatic tumors to the brain and on malignant peripheral neuroglial tumors. The Neuro-Oncology Program membership has a strong presence in the UAB Comprehensive Neuroscience Center. The CCC Neuro- Oncology program serves a 5-state, Deep South region as a major, tertiary care referral center for patients with malignant and benign brain tumors and achieves its objectives through the support of the CCC and its shared facilities. The Neuro-Oncology Program is distinguished by: 1) A large number of patients with primary brain tumors and a mature 5-state referral network; 2) An active brain tumor-dedicated inter-disciplinary clinical team; 3) Extensive clinical and laboratory resources; 4) Significant extramural support for basic, translational, and clinical research, as well as a number of pharmaceutical industry-academia contracts for support of Neuro- Oncology research on campus; and 5) Nationally recognized expertise in conducting institutional and cooperative Phase I and II clinical trials utilizing agents developed through translational activities of the program. This program is a charter member of the Adult Brain Tumor Consortium (ABTC), the only NCI-funded adult brain tumor clinical consortium, and program members hold leadership positions in the Pediatric Brain Tumor Committee of the Children's Oncology Group. The Neuro-Oncology Program is multi-disciplinary with 20 primary members from 9 departments and 2 schools. Our members currently hold 28 active research grants, totaling $6,990,899 in direct costs annually, with 10 of those grants from the NCI totaling $680,818 annually in direct costs. During the current funding period, the membership published 169 peer-reviewed scientific papers, of which 32% were intra-programmatic and 29% were inter-progammatic brain tumor research. We conducted 66 interventional and 7 non-interventional IRB-approved clinical trials accruing 221 patients and 366 patients, respectively. In the current funding period, the Program has effectively harnesssed the CCC development of infrastructure and expertise to support systems biomedicine, bioenergetics, imaging and drug development. This has led to highly innovative research that has resulted in several seminal publications by the members of this program. The Neuro-Oncology Program will continue to advance basic and translational findings of its members' research to investigator-initiated Phase I and Phase II clinical trials for adult and pediatric patients with brain tumors.
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