In July 2002, UC Davis Cancer Center successfully obtaining NCI center designation. Cancer Therapeutics is one of six major programs in the Cancer Center Support Grant and that program will provide the leadership and direction for the proposed AP4 Center. The Therapeutics Program is led by co-directors Kit S. Lam MD, PhD and David Gandara MD and consists of 50 investigators who work collaboratively on three main themes: 1) Drug Discovery, 2) Drug Development and 3) Clinical Investigations and Correlative Studies. Dr. Lam, who has a strong background in developing multidisciplinary research teams and public/private partnerships, will serve as the AP4 Center principal investigator. The proposed AP4 Center will focus on developing new therapeutics and technologies for the treatment, diagnosis and imaging of a range of orphan cancers such as acute myelocytic leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia and ovarian cancer.
The specific aims of the planning grant are to: 1. Hold a 1-2 day planning meeting with a group of potential Center researchers, corporate partners, non-profit organizations and state agencies 2. Engage in a strategic planning process that develops the proposed AP4 Center's vision and mission statements and research agenda 3. Select at least three primary and two alternate research projects that focus on orphan cancers to include in the AP4 Center application 4. Negotiate a membership agreement with corporate, non-profit and government partners that serves as a formal operations document and specifies the proposed Center's structure and policies 5. Prepare an AP4 Center application for submission to NCI in 2005
