The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center requests renewal of its National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center Core Support Grant (CCSG) for Years 36-40. Over the past CCSG cycle, the Center has grown in funding, membership, facilities and productivity. NCI funding has increased from $45M to $64M and total cancer-related extramural funding rose from $150M to $220M yearly. The Center's 295 members (up from 235) span the basic, clinical and population sciences; all areas have seen an increase in faculty funding and research productivity. A tradition of interaction among disciplines, fostered by a proactive matrix cancer center at a highly-regarded public university provides an outstanding venue for integrating forward-looking interdisciplinary cancer research. Cancer center members hold 34 multi-investigator program grants and 26 training grants. Faculty additions in the physical and pharmaceutical sciences created new opportunities in drug discovery and delivery. Substantial investment in faculty, equipment and bioinformatics dramatically expanded our cancer genetics research effort; UNC was again selected as a site of The Cancer Genome Atlas. Thirty-eight clinical researchers were recruited, strengthening our multidisciplinary cancer care and research teams. Our publication rate in top clinical oncology journals increased by four-fold. Accruals to therapeutic trials, including investigator-initiated trials, more than doubled to 850 and 434 respectively. Our population scientists initiated new endeavors in cancer communication, dissemination, survivorship, and molecular epidemiology. Groundbreaking observations in breast cancer minority disparity research have emerged from the Center's epidemiology and clinical programs. The formation of transdisciplinary teams stimulates progress toward implementing the Center's and NCI's strategic objectives. Major events include opening the North Carolina Cancer Hospital, a new clinical structure that nearly triples patient care space, and new basic science buildings. The Center's significant and continued expansion, including 20 faculty recruitments now in progress, is driven by remarkable institutional support including direct support for cancer research from the state legislature. The UNC Lineberger requests funding for nine scientific programs, 20 shared resources, two staff investigators, and for leadership, planning and evaluation, administration, and developmental research. The increased CCSG budget will support technological and operational expansion of cores and faculty recruitment in the basic, translational, clinical, and population sciences. With these funds, a talented faculty integrated through cancer center mechanisms will make advances in the prevention, early detection, and treatment of cancer in North Carolina and the nation.
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