Prostate cancer research has been greatly hindered by the paucity of new investigators entering the field. In recognition of the need to help establish independently funded investigators in the field of translational prostate cancer research, the Michigan Prostate SPORE has supported two to three junior faculty per year. The focus of the Career Enhancement Program (CEP) is to provide investigators the resources to generate preliminary data for subsequent NIH R01 grant applications or future SPORE projects. The Michigan Prostate SPORE commits $60,000 annually per investigator. Career Enhancement awardees are funded for a maximum of two years, subject to annual review. The awardees? departments supply another $10,000 per year in matching funds. Investigators, many of whom are outside the field of prostate cancer, meet quarterly with the Co-Directors, Drs. Diane Robins, Ph.D. (U-M), Goutham Narla, M.D., Ph.D. (U-M) and Jennifer Beebe-Dimmer, M.P.H., Ph.D. (Karmanos Cancer Institute, KCI). Dr. Robins is a Professor of Human Genetics and has a leadership role in the new Cancer Biology Program and has served previously as Director of graduate studies in the Department of Genetics. Dr. Robins is the basic science mentor for the CEP. Dr. Narla, chief of the Division of Genetic Medicine, is a medical geneticist who directs cancer genetics services at Michigan Medicine. He is also an associate director of the MSTP program at U-M. He will serve as the clinical research mentor for CEP. Dr. Beebe-Dimmer is an Associate Professor of Oncology, at Wayne State University and the Leader of the Population Studies and Disparities Research Program and Director of the Epidemiology Research Core at the KCI. She will serve as a population sciences and diversity research mentor. The progress of the Career Enhancement investigators is monitored yearly by presentation to the Operating Committee and funding can be terminated if the investigators are not fulfilling their commitment to translational prostate cancer research. Since 1995, our CEP has invested $3.5 million in the program and supported 26 investigators. In return, the CEP investigators have generated an impressive $47.8 million in subsequent grants and produced 124 manuscripts during that time period. The effectiveness of this program is reflected by the fact that ten career development investigators (Drs. Morgan, Tomlins, Salami, Pitchiaya, Spratt, Cooney, Chinnaiyan, Wei, Loberg and Feng) have become project Co- Leaders in the Michigan Prostate SPORE program. In this proposal, CEP will be jointly supported by U-M and KCI. U-M will contribute $70,000 plus funds to cover effort for the U-M Co-Directors. The KCI component of the Michigan Prostate SPORE will fund either 1 CEP per year at $60,000 per year or 1 DRP per year at $50,000 per year. as well as funds to cover the KCI Co-Director. We are requesting the remaining $50,000 from NCI.
The Michigan Prostate SPORE continues to emphasize the importance of the CEP as an integral part of the of our prostate cancer research community. The financial commitment to the CEP represents a significant portion of the Michigan Prostate SPORE budget and reflects the importance we place on the development of junior investigators pursuing innovative translational research in prostate cancer.
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