Developmental Research Project

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT of the Developmental Research Program (DRP) The Developmental Research Program (DRP) will provide key support to rapidly advance new ideas that have the potential to substantially impact our understanding of cancer disparities, and ultimately, will contribute to the reduction in the morbidity and mortality of cancer among a racially and ethnically diverse population. Our DRP

has been structured to achieve the following Specific Aims: 1. Promote the development of innovative early-stage cancer disparities research projects spanning translational research areas: molecular biology, epidemiology (primary and secondary prevention), risk prediction, early detection, prognosis, therapeutics, and survivorship.

2. Encourage high-risk/high-payoff pilot projects to ensure our SPORE remains at the cutting edge of research. 3. Engage underrepresented minority investigators to lead early-stage research projects. 4. Provide funding, infrastructure, and mentorship to facilitate the feasibility and success of DRP projects.

5. Monitor the progress of funded projects and help advance them to become full SPORE or R type grants. To achieve these Specific Aims, new ideas will be solicited on an annual basis by broadly advertising the availability of our pilot funds and by directly engaging with promising investigators. We will encourage early-

career and established investigators to collaborate across disciplines. To ensure a rigorous and balanced scientific review of DRP proposals, we will convene an expert panel encompassing a broad range of scientific disciplines and include participation from our Community Advisory Board. Combined with our generous

institutional support, we will award $125,000 of funding to DRP projects annually and anticipate that each year we will fund 2-4 projects. Funded DRP projects will receive strong infrastructure support, access to biospecimens, data, and expertise related to novel technologies and statistical analyses through our

Administrative, Biospecimen and Pathology and Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Cores as well as training in cancer disparities research as offered by the Career Enhancement Program. We will provide mentorship to all DRP investigators to ensure long-term engagement with the TRPCD and its mission. The progress of all DRP

projects will be monitored regularly with respect to achieving their specific aims and milestones using clearly defined evaluation criteria. We will also track long-term reportable outcomes of each project such as peer- reviewed manuscripts, oral presentations, and grant funding. During our funded P20 SPORE planning phase we

have gained substantial expertise in conducting a successfully DRP that has been instrumental in supporting new research areas leading to full SPORE projects as well as investigator-initiated R type applications demonstrating our ability to develop a successful DRP and the tremendous importance of the DRP as part of a

strong multipronged Translational Research Program in Colorectal Cancer Disparities.