The goals of this Coordinating Center include facilitating information exchange among investigators in the NCI Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) Consortium, supporting data integration and data analysis, and serving as a central resource for characterization and distribution of model systems. The leadership of this Center consists of a trio of investigators with deep and long-standing research programs focused on SCLC, with complementary strengths and experience. Charles Rudin, an experienced laboratory and clinical researcher focused on SCLC, who has directed two of the largest lung cancer research programs in the country over the past 13 years, serves as the overall PI of the Center, providing administrative leadership and coordination. John Minna and Tyler Jacks serve as co-leaders of the Center. Dr. Minna has consistently and repeatedly led discovery efforts defining SCLC biology over several decades, and together with his collaborators established nearly all of the SCLC cell lines that have served as the basis for SCLC preclinical research. Dr. Jacks has extensive experience in the development and characterization of innovative genetically engineered mouse models of SCLC and over the past decades has served as the primary mentor of many of the active investigators around the world working on mouse models of SCLC. We bring together additional key investigators and unqiue resources that we believe substantially add to the strengths of the Center. Yu Shir at Vanderbilt has established and directs HIPAA-compliant databases used by several multi- investigator consortia. Nikolaus Schultz?s team developed the cBioPortal and continues to expand and improve this leading platform for analysis and integration of complex ?omic level data, supporting many multi- investigator consortia worldwide. Adi Gazdar oversees the cell line resource at UT Southwestern, and will support distribution of these lines to U01 SCLC investigators. Anna Farago and Jeff Engelman at MGH, together with John Poirier and Dr. Rudin at MSK, have established substantial resources of SCLC patient- derived xenografts (PDX) and circulating tumor cell-derived xenografts (CDX) models, which are available for distribution among consortium members. Scott Lowe and Andrea Ventura offer highly innovative genetically engineered mouse modeling by CRISPR/Cas9 modulation of embryonic stem cells to rapidly assess genetic contributors to SCLC biology. Afshin Dowlati at Case Western will contribute a large collection of clinically annotated SCLC tissue microarrays representing chemosensitive as well as primary and secondary chemoresistant disease. Together we represent an exceptional team, led by three of the most widely recognized and established investigators in SCLC discovery research, with complementary strengths in therapeutic translation, basic biology, and animal modeling. By providing the resources above, and by coordinating frequent data-sharing opportunities and leading annual face-to-face meetings among SCLC investigators, we believe this Center can substantially accellerate progress against this deadly disease.
This Coordinating Center will promote information exchange and resource sharing among investigators in the NCI-supported Small Cell Lung Cancer Consortium, with the ultimate goal of reducing the impact of this disease by facilitating prevention, early detection, and novel therapeutic research.
| Huang, Fang; Ni, Min; Chalishazar, Milind D et al. (2018) Inosine Monophosphate Dehydrogenase Dependence in a Subset of Small Cell Lung Cancers. Cell Metab 28:369-382.e5 |
| Gazdar, Adi F; Bunn, Paul A; Minna, John D (2017) Small-cell lung cancer: what we know, what we need to know and the path forward. Nat Rev Cancer 17:725-737 |
