Yale Cancer Center researchers were awarded an $11 million grant renewal from the National Institutes of Health to fund the Yale Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Lung Cancer. SPORE harnesses the strengths of academic cancer centers by bringing together experts in oncology, immunobiology, pharmacology, molecular biology, pathology, epidemiology, and addiction science to collaborate on projects.
“The support of the SPORE in Lung Cancer creates critical collaborations between basic, translational, and clinical scientists and helps shepherd advances from our labs to benefit all patients with lung cancer,” said principal investigator Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, Ensign Professor of Medicine, Chief of Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital, as well as Associate Cancer Center Director for Translational Research at Yale.
Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD
The SPORE in Lung Cancer will focus on three primary projects during the next funding period. The first project will analyze the immune-suppressor capabilities of Siglec-15 and the potential success of Siglec-15 inhibition in patients with lung cancer with the development of predictive biomarkers. A second project will evaluate approaches to prevent tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance in EGFR-mutant lung cancer. The third project will target lung cancer metastasis and drug resistance in the central nervous system.
Yale Cancer Center is 1 of 5 institutions in the country with a SPORE devoted to lung cancer and 1 of 13 institutions to be awarded more than one SPORE. The SPORE in Lung Cancer grant renewal, which will begin on August 1, will run for a 5-year term.
