of the Development Research Program The Developmental Research Program (DRP) will provide key support to develop novel translational early-phase Projects in the area of cancer disparities that, ultimately, will contribute to the reduction in the morbidity and mortality of cancer among medically underserved populations. In line with the overall goals of our Translational Research Program in Colorectal Cancer Disparities. The DRP will foster new collaborations between participating institutions and initiate collaborations with other SPOREs and Disparities P20?s. Additionally, our Career Enhancement Program (operated through our Administrative Core) will encourage early career investigators, particularly those from racially/ethnically diverse backgrounds, to apply to the DRP. Our goal is to fund Developmental Research Projects encompassing a range of translational cancer disparities research, including molecular biology, epidemiology (primary and secondary prevention), early detection, prognosis, therapeutics, and survivorship. To achieve this goal, we will identify promising translational cancer disparities Research Projects through broad solicitation (Aim 1). We will encourage early and senior investigators to collaborate across multiple disciplines. New ideas will be solicited on an annual basis by broadly advertising pilot funding and targeted engagement with promising faculty.
Aim 2 will focus on rigorous and balanced scientific review of DRP proposals. We will convene an expert panel encompassing a broad range of scientific disciplines and also include participation from our Community Advisory Board. We will follow the National Institutes of Health SPORE guidelines for these reviews. In addition to financial support, funded DRP Projects will receive strong infrastructure support and access to biospecimens and expertise related to novel technologies through our Administrative and Biospecimen and Pathology Cores (Aim 3). With our generous institutional matching support we will award $100,000 of funding to DRP projects annually and anticipate that each year we will fund about 3 one-year projects. The progress of all DRP projects will be monitored regularly with respect to achieving their specific aims and milestones using clearly defined evaluation criteria (Aim 4). Of particular interest will be the potential of each project to advance to a full SPORE Project. We will also track long-term reportable outcomes of each project such as peer-reviewed manuscripts, oral presentations and grant funding.
The DRP is a key component of the long-term success of our overall Program. It will fund innovative developmental projects focused on translational cancer disparities research with the potential to develop into Full Projects for our subsequent P50 SPORE grant application.
