Med School shares $13.4M cancer grant

Scientists from the Medical School will lead one of two research teams that are part of a $13.4 million award that will go toward research related to cancer detection and diagnosis.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, announced that SAIC-Frederick Inc. has made the two-year awards, under a competitive solicitation, to two research teams from 10 cancer research institutions.

The awards reflect a new collaborative team approach to develop the standard tools and resources needed to accelerate protein biomarker discovery to provide new and highly specific approaches to the early detection and diagnosis of cancer.

Teams of researchers will use transgenic (genetically defined) mouse models of human cancers to study current proteomic technologies, compare results, and provide reference data sets and biological resources for widespread research use throughout the cancer research community. This approach will enable comparability of results among multiple laboratories currently using different proteomic technologies. Common data sets and resources will make it easier to develop and test the next generation of technologies for discovering biomarkers that signal the earliest stages of cancer in humans.

"Proteomics holds enormous potential for the early detection of cancer, but researchers must have standard reagents and reproducible technologies to accelerate the discovery and development of these biomarkers into clinical use," says Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, NCI director. "We believe that this unique network—with its teams of experts—will speed up the development of effective proteomic technologies for the benefit of cancer patients and their families."

"This initiative is a perfect example of how tomorrow's advances in biomedical research and medicine will come from teams of researchers working together to translate discoveries in the basic sciences into new diagnostic tools and treatments for diseases like cancer," says Dr. Allen S. Lichter, dean of the Medical School.

"Institutional cooperation and shared research results will speed the pace of discovery and ensure the fastest possible return on the National Cancer Institute's significant investment in proteomics research."

One of the proteomics research teams is headed by Dr. Samir Hanash, a research professor in the Medical School and member of the public health sciences division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Other members of the team from U-M include Dr. Gilbert S. Omenn, professor of molecular medicine and genetics in the Medical School and professor of public health in the School of Public Health, and Dr. David States, professor of human genetics and director of bioinformatics in the Medical School.

More Stories

• Campus call to help our own affected by the tsunami
• A King for many days: Symposium is U-M's 18th
• DJ takes a new spin on old film with 'Rebirth of a Nation'
• MLK Events Calendar
• Coleman reaches out to prospective underrepresented minority students
• Student uses computer models to help Smithsonian preserve art
• Three receive honor from provost
• Google/U-M project opens door to universal information access
• Regents approve Thayer Building; new home for language and literature programs
• Three University alumni sworn in to Congress
• Commission: Education key to Michigan's economic success
• Challenge to America: Innovate or fall behind
• Cigarette smoking among American teens continues 8-year decline
• Teen drug use continues decline; use of inhalants rises
• OVPR leadership search underway
• Navigating the e-world: Information access and preservation in the digital age
• Med School shares $13.4M cancer grant
• Theme semester will spotlight 'Cultural Treasures of the Middle East'
• U-M continues modest salary program for 2004-05
• Tedesco to resume faculty role; accepts visiting position at Columbia
• U-M leaders remind campus about severe weather procedures
• U-M-Dearborn and Michigan Television host Jan. 16 screening
• Winds of change at Dana Building
• Spotlight: Peering into the past to see the future
• 'Graveyard' class leads student to start preservation group
• Robot walks, balances like a human
• Research Notes
• U-M launches $1.5M informed consent project
• More precise radiation therapy lets prostate cancer patients avoid erectile dysfunction
• Don't Miss
• Are those who fail to learn from flu history doomed to repeat it?
• Exhibit just etching to open Jan. 10
• Photo: 'Kans for Kids'
• Photo: 'Upside Down' for MLK