Neuro-Oncology Research Program

The Neuro-Oncology (NO) Program, an internationally recognized leader in brain tumor research and patient care, celebrated its 85th anniversary in 2022. The NO Program has excelled within DCI since its designation as an NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1972. The Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS), which conducts all data analyses through its partnership with Duke investigators, reports that >1.3 million Americans were living with a primary brain tumor diagnosis in 2020. Primary brain tumors are the most prevalent cancer type among those ages 15-39 years, the second most prevalent among those ages 0-14 years, and the leading cancer-related cause of death in children and young adults. The NO Program is led by Gerald Grant, MD, and Kyle Walsh, PhD. It is comprised of a multidisciplinary group of 34 full members from 10 departments and two schools within Duke. Research within the program spans basic, translational, clinical and population research organized across five Focus Areas: 1) Epidemiology, 2) Molecular Studies, 3) Immunotherapy, 4) Clinical Trials, and 5) Pre-clinical Model Development and Biobanking. Noteworthy NO accomplishments over this grant period include: 1) three large, multi-PI grants, including new or continuation of an NCI Brain SPORE P50 (2019), a P01 on Experimental Therapy for Brain Tumors (2018) and receipt of a U19 award from the Glioblastoma Therapeutics Network (2021); 2) recruiting nine new junior faculty, six of whom are supported by competitive training grant awards; 3) selection to join the National EXperimental Therapeutics (NEXT) Consortium, and the COllaborative Network for NEuro- oncology Clinical Trials (CONNECT); 4) Resuming a dedicated pediatric neuro-oncology fellowship (2020) to reestablish Duke’s position as a leader in pediatric neuro-oncology care; and 5) launching the Consortium for Intracranial Metastasis Academic Research (CIMARa) (2021), a collaboration of DCI members with not- for-profit partners to improve outcomes for patients with brain metastases. Total direct funding for full program members is $11.1M, of which $4.5M is peer reviewed, including $2.7M from the NCI. During the current funding period, program members published 566 cancer-focused papers, 146 (26%) of which are intra-programmatic collaborations, 170 (30%) are inter-programmatic, and 205 (36%) are in journals with impact factor over 10. During the current funding period, the program enrolled 1,065 participants to all trials and 601 to interventional trials. To constantly improve and evolve, NO Leaders recruit and mentor new members, promote brain tumor-specific career development, coordinate seminars and retreats for information exchange, and spur intra- and inter-programmatic collaborations that address unmet needs faced by brain tumor patients and their families.