There is an urgent unmet need to identify the earliest cellular and molecular events that associate with lung carcinogenesis. In this proposal, we will develop a pre-cancer atlas for the two most common subtypes of lung cancer: squamous cell (LUSC) and adenocarcinoma (LUAD). The members of our team provide complementary expertise in clinical trials, cancer genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics, immunobiology, biostatistics, computational biology, and data portal development. To facilitate the construction of the Lung Pre- cancer Atlas (PCA), the Administrative Core, consisting of the Core Director and Center Administrator, will provide operational and strategic management and support to the Research Center and its Units. Specifically, the Core will provide comprehensive Center management, evaluation, and project support to the PCA Unit leads and co-investigators within the individual PCA Units including coordination of standard operating procedures, data sharing plans, subcontracts, teleconferences and formal meetings, and monitoring of Unit progress. In addition, the Core will also foster synergy and integration between the PCA Units and Unit leads, including regular communication in the form of teleconferences and formal meetings, coordinate sharing of biospecimens and data between Units and will provide updates on Center progress to keep investigators informed of impending data. Importantly, the Core will establish and cultivate a bidirectional communication infrastructure and exchange with the Human Tumor Atlas (HTA) network to ensure conformity with accepted network practices and principles and exchange program insights and data to facilitate integration of the PCA and HTA Research Centers. An important responsibility of the Core will be implementing an evaluation plan that will streamline and improve efficiencies across the three Lung PCA Units in order to facilitate progress towards the specific aims. This evaluation will include process mapping to communicate intended goals to all PCA investigators, well-defined metrics that measure success of the Units and their integration, and web- based tools to efficiently collect and share Unit evaluation data. This evaluation will enable timely continuous improvement, and foster a rich and stimulating scientific environment and integrated infrastructure to produce a robust and informative Atlas. In all, the Administrative Core will provide necessary governance for ensuring robust data collection and analysis within the Lung PCA, and facilitate dissemination of atlas findings to the HTA network and extended research community.
