We propose a new UPCI Shared Resource Facility, entitled the Cancer Biomarkers Facility (CBF), which is motivated by the current and rapidly growing demand from UPCI basic and clinical investigators for integrated and cross-disciplinary biomarker investigations. This shared resource is Cancer Center managed. Recent publications and results from UPCI researchers demonstrate that biomarker research studies, particularly approaches utilizing cutting-edge molecular analysis technological platforms, offer abundant promise for molecular diagnosis and classification of human malignancies. Studies utilizing cutting-edge analytical platforms are expected to rapidly lead to translational applications for improved detection, diagnosis, and prognosis, and for determining efficacy of cancer treatments in patients. The CBF, and its constituent technical platforms, have already provided, and will continue to provide into the next funding period of the UPCI Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG), clinical applications of state-of-theart systems level molecular profiling that make a major impact on cancer diagnosis, assessment of prognosis, and response to treatment. Accordingly, the mission of the CBF is to provide faculty expertise and collaborative consultation including integrative bioinformatics support across the spectrum of these """"""""omics"""""""" technologies, instrumentation, and resources, and together with trained technical staff, to work with UPCI basic and clinical researchers in translational research studies focused on identifying, characterizing, and validating biomarkers for cancer risk prediction, eariy detection and screening, diagnosis, molecular classification/differential diagnosis, prognosis/prediction of disease progression, patient selection/stratification and treatment selection, prediction of therapeutic response, treatment response monitoring/assessment, and metastasis and recurrence prediction and monitoring. The proposed integrated CBF has been established and developed over the current CCSG funding period with sustained investment by UPCI building on the existing strong foundation of established UPCI shared facilities and resident instrumentation and capabilities, together with highly relevant ongoing NCI-funded translational research studies utilizing these resources, including the Eariy Detection Research Network Biomarkers Discovery Laboratory, and the Lung Cancer, Head and Neck Cancer, and Skin Cancer SPORE grants to UPCI faculty investigators. The systems level studies toward identification and validation of novel cancer biomarkers conducted within the CBF are enabled by the following technical platforms presently established and implemented at UPCI: Mass Spectrometry, Microarray, Luminex, and lllumina. Combined with integrated bioinformatics support from the UPCI Cancer Informatics Services (CIS), the CBF provides comprehensive """"""""omics"""""""" technology and expertise in a fully integrated systems biology scientific environment to support the basic, clinical, and translational research needs of UPCI investigators.
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