DF/HCC Preclinical Translation-Focused Clinical Investigator to Bridge PDXNet and the ETCTN

ABSTRACT This application is being submitted to request the addition of a Preclinical Translation-Focused Clinical Investigator (PT-FCI) to the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC) ETCTN UM1 Lead Academic Organization (LAO). Dr. Geoffrey Shapiro will serve as the DF/HCC PT-FCI. He has expertise in preclinical, translational, and clinical science and is poised to serve as a bridge between PDXNet and the ETCTN. As a PT- FCI, Dr. Shapiro will engage in three sets of activities. First, he will establish interactions with PDXNet scientists through attendance at network-wide and Clinical Translation meetings, in which he will provide guidance on prioritization of models and agents to be used in preclinical studies. Second, he will continue extensive mentoring of early- and mid-career ETCTN investigators in the development of Letters of Intent (LOIs) and will determine whether required high-quality preclinical data are available within PDXNet or whether such data can be developed to support ETCTN LOIs. Finally, he will identify at least one high-priority PDX therapeutic study to be conducted per year that will provide data to support development of ETCTN clinical trials, including studies addressing health disparity-related projects. PDX therapeutic studies will be performed in his laboratory, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) Experimental Therapeutics Core or in the laboratory of a DF/HCC, Harvard Medical School or PDXNet collaborator. These activities will collectively contribute to strengthened interactions between PDXNet and the ETCTN, resulting in rigorous preclinical data that will inform ETCTN clinical trials.