) The Developmental Therapeutics program is new in the Cancer Center since the last review and developed from a plan initiated by our external advisor, Dr. Tempero. Many members were formerly in the Adult Clinical Oncology program while others, including the program leader, Dr. Kraft, were recruited to the UCCC. The scientific goal of the Developmental Therapeutics program is to develop and evaluate novel therapeutic compounds for the prevention and treatment of cancer and to reduce both the incidence and mortality from this disease. Through the establishment of close interactions between basic research laboratories, clinical scientists, NCI, and the pharmaceutical industry, the most rapid development and assessment of new treatment modalities will be accomplished. Compounds developed and advanced to clinical trials fall within the research foci of program members and are based upon investigator-initiated scientific hypotheses, or fulfill a need for therapeutic options within a specific disease area. The programmatic goals are to provide the infrastructure, including cores and clinics, to allow the scientific exploration of new treatment modalities. Additional recruitments will be undertaken to expand the investigation of novel therapy approaches. Seminars, discussion groups, training, and courses are provided to the members. This program is organized into three major interdisciplinary research areas: Early Clinical Trials, Clinical and Molecular Pharmacology, and New Drug Discovery. This program is under the leadership of Andrew S. Kraft, MD. Dr. Kraft has a strong commitment to work with program members to develop a scientifically based approach to the design and implementation of novel therapies. The program consists of 31 faculty members with a total of $6.8 million in annual direct costs. This program has grown rapidly over the last several years, which has resulted in the recruitment of key faculty. Dr. S. Gail Eckhardt (staff investigator) has instituted a phase I trial clinic and opened many new clinical studies. Dr. Kraft is the PI on an NCI training grant and a new Clinical Pharmacology Core provides essential services. The goals for the next five years involve the expansion of the faculty with recruitment of a translational gene therapist and the development of a viral production facility, and an additional core to measure biological markers of drug action in vivo.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 1634 publications
