OVERALL ABSTRACT Founded in 1977 by John Mendelsohn, the Cancer Center at University of California San Diego (UCSD) has been continuously funded by the NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) since 1978 and has held Comprehensive status since 2001. As the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in San Diego County, the mission of Moores Cancer Center (MCC) is to reduce the impact of cancer in the region and beyond by fostering scientific discovery, research training, and interdisciplinary care. Our goal is to create, translate, and deliver high-impact discoveries and innovations in cancer prevention and care through a deep understanding of the needs of the catchment area, and prepare the next generation of cancer researchers. Accordingly, MCC?s aims are to: 1) Elucidate the biology of cancer and catalyze trans-disciplinary team science across the science spectrum; 2) Develop and test innovative preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic approaches; 3) Conduct cancer prevention and control research to reduce cancer disparities in vulnerable populations; 4) Provide underrepresented minorities with access to cutting edge multi-disciplinary care; 5) Provide training and education across the trainee continuum; and 6) Develop and implement community-based cancer education and outreach programs. To this end, MCC brings together 232 members from 5 UCSD Schools (Medicine, Engineering, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences) and 2 consortium partners (one existing: San Diego State University, and one new: La Jolla Institute). Furthermore, MCC integrates the resources of UCSD Health Sciences and its affiliated hospitals in the UCSD Health System for a unified approach to cancer research and clinical care. MCC fulfills its mission through the activities of its 5 Research Programs (Cancer Biology and Signaling, Structural and Functional Genomics, Solid Tumor Therapeutics, Hematological Malignancies, and Cancer Control) that are supported by 7 Shared Resources (Flow Cytometry, Microscopy, Transgenic Mouse, Biostatistics, Genomics and Computational Biology, Biorepository and Tissue Technology, and Biobehavioral), and infrastructure provided by Community Outreach, Training and Education, Clinical Protocol and Data Management, and Protocol Review and Monitoring. Under the leadership of Dr. Scott Lippman, Center Director and Associate Vice- Chancellor for Cancer Research and Care, MCC has seen tremendous growth. During the project period, MCC members authored 3931 cancer-relevant research articles, and in 2017 were supported by $128.2 million (DC) in annual cancer-relevant peer-reviewed funding (8% increase); and the total annualized cancer-relevant research base was $148.5M, an increase of 11% from the previous project period by lateral comparison. Collaborative peer-reviewed grant funding also increased from annual total costs of $65.9M in 2013 to $69.9M in 2017 (6% increase). Importantly, 33 of MCC?s scientific discoveries were translated to the clinic through 41 investigator-initiated clinical trials, a 14-fold increase from the previous project period.
OVERALL NARRATIVE MCC?s mission is to reduce the impact of cancer to the catchment area and beyond by discovering, translating, and delivering high-impact innovations in interdisciplinary cancer prevention and care, and prepare the next generation of cancer researchers. The CCSG provides critical infrastructure to support the research necessary to achieve our mission.
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