Shared Resource Management

PROJECT SUMMARY - Shared Resource Management The USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center (NCCC) has a long tradition of providing innovative and cost- effective Shared Resources (SRs). NCCC Administration manages all SRs with Senior Leadership oversight to ensure alignment with the NCCC Strategic Plan and a sustained scientific impact. An integrated set of oversight processes, combined with the annual core survey, fosters continued improvement and SR evolution to meet members' needs. In response to these mechanisms, we have transformed NCCC SRs in the current grant period, including expansion of the Biostatistics SR into a Data Science SR, creation of a new Population Research SR, and transition of three SRs that had relatively lower use by NCCC members to the Keck School of Medicine. Accordingly, the six CCSG Shared Resources proposed in this application include: Flow and Immune Monitoring Core (FCIM), Liquid Biopsy Core (LBC), Translational Pathology Core (TPC), Molecular Genomics Core (MGC), Data Science Core (DSC), and Population Research Core (PRC). We also propose a developing Preclinical Core to provide NCCC members with customized preclinical services to generate robust preliminary data for grant proposals and to provide a rationale and information to inform the design of novel early phase clinical trials. Notably, we have made substantial investments in our SRs, with a strong return on this investment as exemplified in our annual usage metrics and annual core surveys. Specifically, 168 (of 187) full NCCC members utilized at least one NCCC SR in FY19 (80% of these 168 members had peer reviewed funding), and 77% reported that their satisfaction with the overall quality of the services was either outstanding or very good (top two categories). Use of NCCC SRs directly contributed to 642 publications. The CCSG budget contribution to NCCC shared resources is only 24% of the total SR operational budget over the current period, with the remainder supported by institutional funds and chargebacks or grant support. The institutional investment to NCCC SRs in the current grant cycle was over $5.2M.