The Developmental Core ofthe Penn TREC Survivor Center will facilitate research on the effects of energy balance on cancer recurrence by combining the unique strengths of our institution in obesity and cancer biology to focus on cancer survivorship. This Core will be co-led by Dr. Lewis Chodosh, Chair of the Department of Cancer Biology and Associate Director of the Abramson Cancer Center, and Dr. Rexford Ahima, Associate Director ofthe Penn Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. In consultation with Penn TREC Center leadership and advisors, the Development Core will be responsible for soliciting, prioritizing and selecting developmental pilot projects to explore new ideas and capitalize on emerging opportunities that have the potential to contribute to existing TREC Center initiatives. The Developmental Core will also participate in formulating Cross-TREC pilot projects involving multiple TREC centers. An additional focus of the Developmental Core will be to promote activities with the potential to synergistically impact on outcomes ofthe TREC Program, including outreach efforts to bring in expertise from outside the Penn TREC to enhance its research activities, and outreach efforts to non-TREC entities to extend the reach of the TREC initiative into new communities of scientists. The Developmental Core will enable the Penn TREC Survivor Center to expand upon the conceptual platform formed by its three primary research projects, thereby extending the reach of its investigations to the effects of exercise and obesity on recurrence of other types of cancer beyond breast, as well as other persistent adverse treatment effects across the translational research continuum.
The Specific Aims ofthe Core are: 1) To implement a pilot project program that promotes innovative, interdisciplinary research projects in exercise, obesity and cancer survivorship research;2) To provide ongoing support for within Center and Cross-TREC pilot projects funded by the Penn TREC Survivor Center;3. To disseminate the results ofthe developmental research program to the TREC research community and the clinical oncology community;and 4) To evaluate the success of the developmental research program.
Exercise and weight control are hypothesized to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence. Testing this hypothesis and elucidating its mechanism will require combined expertise in cancer biology, obesity, and survivorship research. The Develpomental Core ofthe Penn TREC Survivor Center will nucleate unique institutional expertise and resources in these areas to achieve this goal.
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