Developmental Funds have played a key role in facilitating scientific growth and increased interdisciplinary collaboration at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Massey Cancer Center (MCC). Over the previous funding cycle, $185,000 per year of awarded funds were expended on new faculty recruitment, one pilot project per year, and support of developing shared resources, of which one is being put forth as a competing shared resource as part of this renewal application. In the upcoming project period, MCC is requesting $280,000 per year to recruit 6 new investigators over 5 years as part of a planned expansion of MCC programs, fund up to 3 pilot projects per year, and offset the purchase of shared services from other NCI- designated cancer centers. While the requested CCSG funds will be more than matched with MCC and institutional funds to accomplish these planned recruitments, pilot projects, and the purchase of shared services, the CCSG funds provide critical leverage to obtain matching funds from other sources. In alignment with the MCC Vision 2016 strategic plan, a total of 39 investigators were recruited to MCC since 2011. Of the 39 recruitments, 34 were considered strategic, fulfilling targeted needs identified by senior leadership. MCC has dedicated over $13.5 million in committed funding to ensure the success of these recruits. Of the 34 strategic recruitments, 6 received CCSG support. Four of the 6 faculty recruits supported by CCSG funds have been awarded funding from the NCI. Of the 39 total recruits, 12 have been awarded NCI funding (30%), with $13.2 million (total costs, all years), and an additional $6.5 million (total costs, all years) in NIH and other peer-reviewed extramural funding. Peer-reviewed extramural funding is held by 19 (~49%) of the total investigators, with more than 66% of the funding coming from the NCI. Total funding generated by the new recruits over the past 5 years totals over $19.7 million (total costs, all years). Over the past 5 years, our Pilot Research Grant Program (PRGP) received a total of 182 concepts for review, with a total of 125 invited to submit full proposals, resulting in 52 (28.6%) approved for funding. Of the 43 pilots funded between 2011 and 2014, 13 of the 43 pilot projects funded (30%) during this period resulted in extramural peer-reviewed funding totaling $16,324,252 (total costs, all years). Total funding of the pilot projects equaled $1,657,303 during this period, resulting in an overall ?return on investment? ratio of more than 9.4:1. During this same time period, the CCSG provided support for 5 pilot projects. Three projects resulted in extramural peer-reviewed funding. Of these 3 projects, 2 have resulted in new R01s and a R21 from NCI. The data and results produced from these CCSG-funded pilots generated $3,623,885 in extramural, peer-reviewed funding (total costs, all years). Total funding for the 5 projects was $209,999, resulting in an overall ?return on investment? ratio of over 17:1 for CCSG-funded pilot project awards.
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