The Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) is a designated research unit of the University of Utah. It was formed in July 1994, from the previous, NCI-designate Utah Regional Cancer Center, with major funding provided in late 1995 by the Jon M. Huntsman family, through the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. The mission of the HCI is the translation of molecular and genetic discoveries in the mechanisms of carcinogenesis into clinically effective diagnostics and therapies. The Institute's primary focus on understanding and intervening in the earliest events in the carcinogenesis pathways, at the level of the cancer precursor cell, leads to a strong emphasis on identifying the inherited components of cancer predisposition, as these components are often among the earliest steps in the carcinogenesis pathways. This orientation stem's from the University's history in the development and use of molecular genetic tools for mapping of human disease genes, in particular the genes that predispose to cancer. The Cancer Center is organized into six programs; three basic science programs-Cell Response and Regulation, Molecular Pharmacology, and Nuclear Control of Cell Growth and Differentiation and three disease-focused programs-Brain, Colon and Hematology. Fourteen research resource facilities service these programs; seven of these are new facilities established since the last competitive renewal. In this application, we are requesting funds in the amount of $1.2 million, 46 percent of which will support shared resource facilities, 26 percent professional and administrative personnel, and 25 percent for development. The leadership of the HCI and the University of Utah are committed to the efforts of the Cancer Center. Raymond L. White, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the HCI and the Principal Investigator of the Cancer Center Support Grant. His laboratory has been heavily involved in studies of genes that predispose to cancer for nearly two decades. Furthermore, the ice President and Dean of the Health Sciences Center at the University provides strong institutional support in the form of space and core resources for the institute's scientific endeavors.
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