Friday, May 9, 2025
5/9/2025
Cancer Center Support Grant - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT - OVERALL The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC) is submitting this competing renewal application for its Cancer Center Support Grant for Years 49-54. The mission of UCCCC is “to eradicate cancer through equitable prevention, innovative and collaborative research, compassionate patient care, inclusive education and dedicated community engagement”. Upon arrival in March 2021 as the new Director, Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD provided a vision for the Center that focuses on translation of science into the forefront of UCCCC’s overall mission. To accomplish this, a new Strategic Plan was launched to guide UCCCC towards its vision to be a “global center of excellence for inclusive and equitable cancer care, research and discovery dedicated to cancer eradication”. The plan is organized around the cross-cutting themes of bidirectional translational cancer science between the domains of the laboratory, the clinic, and the community; transdisciplinary research programs; and transformation of the cancer burden in the catchment area (CA) and beyond. The 193 members of the UCCCC are organized into 4 Research Programs: Immunology and Cancer, Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics, Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer, and Cancer Prevention and Control. They are supported by 10 Shared Resources and 18 multidisciplinary Disease Teams. Notable accomplishments during this funding cycle (2018-2022) include: (1) Restructuring leadership by creating two new AD positions (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion [DEI], and Shared Resources); (2) Recruiting 68 talented researchers (45 new to the University of Chicago); (3) establishing a new Office for DEI; (4) bolstering the Offices for Community Outreach and Engagement, Cancer Research Training and Education, Clinical Protocol and Data Management, and Protocol Review and Monitoring Systems; (5) publishing 3,108 scientific articles 35% of which in high-impact (≥10) journals; (6) securing $55.4M peer-reviewed funding, with $31.0M from the NCI; (7) increasing interventional accruals by 15%, with 34% minority treatment accruals in CY22 in our CA; and (8) developing 51 new Investigator Initiated Trials (out of a total of 86 actively open), and 45 FDA INDs; (9) launching several major initiatives including a unique collaboration between UCCCC and Argonne National Laboratories. The Center is a full member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, the Children’s Oncology Group and participates in NRG Oncology studies as a LAPS main member. The aims of UCCCC in the next funding period are to: (1) catalyze and conduct innovative, collaborative cancer research; (2) accelerate the translation of UCCCC member discoveries; (3) reduce cancer burden and disparities in our CA and accelerate health equity in historically underserved populations; (4) promote education, training, and mentorship; and (5) integrate DEI throughout the fabric of the UCCCC. Institutional commitment for the next funding period includes a $815M project to build a free- standing Cancer Pavilion.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).