? TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT AND METASTASIS The overarching goals of the Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis (TMEM) Program are to define how the interplay between cancer cells, stromal components, and the ECM creates an environment permissive for tumor growth and metastasis, and to use this knowledge to facilitate the development of new and more effective cancer therapies. The TMEM Program was reconfigured in 2013 during the restructuring of the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (SBMRI) Cancer Center, which brought together members of the former Tumor Microenvironment Program and investigators interested in the immune and inflammatory components of the tumor microenvironment, who were previously members of other programs. The Program consists of 15 faculty (two of whom are new recruits) and four adjunct members, with expertise in structural biology, carbohydrate chemistry, cryo-electron microscopy, computational analysis, signal transduction, integrin biology, animal models of tumor growth and metastasis, innate and adaptive immune mechanisms, and functional chemical genomic strategies for target identification. The complementary expertise brought by program faculty is organized around three interacting themes: Angiogenesis and Immune/inflammatory Modulation; Cell Migration, Invasion and Metastasis; and Defining New Intervention Points for Cancer Therapy. Members interact at a number of levels, including monthly faculty meetings, program-led seminars (18 in the last funding period), strategic meetings organized around new collaborative opportunities (for example, the interface of the human microbiome and cancer), and collaborative grants. Program funding is strong, with current total annual grant funding of $6.1M (direct costs). Members currently lead 34 grants including 13 R01s (8 from NCI), 3 U01s (2 from NCI), and lead or participate in 5 P01s (2 from NCI), and multiple other grants (DOD, Komen, SU2C). 14 (41%) of the grants are collaborative and multi-investigator. Our productivity is reflected in 261 cancer-relevant publications in the last funding period, of which 27% were collaborative (16% intra- and 12% inter-programmatic). In 2013 alone, we published 52 cancer-relevant publications, of which 21% were intra- and 12% inter-programmatic. In addition, program members contribute to the Cancer Center as Scientific Directors of five Shared Resources (Animal Resources, Cell Imaging and Histology, Flow Cytometry, Functional Genomics, and Structural Biology).
Showing the most recent 10 out of 599 publications