Cancer Biology Program

CANCER BIOLOGY: ABSTRACT The Cancer Biology (CB) program represents basic science initiatives of The University of Kansas Cancer Center (KUCC), unified by member utilization of molecular, biochemical, and model organism and cell-based approaches to study the aberrant behavior of cancer cells. The CB scientific goal is to support KUCC’s strategic plan by discerning the molecular mechanisms that define normal and neoplastic cell growth to identify and characterize cells, molecules, pathways, and processes that are involved in tumor growth and progression, which can serve as useful biomarkers or as new cellular targets for cancer prevention and therapeutics, particularly in tumors important to the KUCC’s catchment area. To accomplish this, CB aims to catalyze collaborations that promote basic discoveries that can be translated from bench-to-bedside. CB has 46 full and 14 associate members representing four campuses: the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) (67%), University of Kansas – Lawrence (KU-L) (10%), Children’s Mercy (CM) (5%), and Stowers Institute for Medical Research (Stowers) (18%). In 2020, CB garnered over $9M in cancer-related, peer-reviewed funding of which $1.2M was from NCI and $6.9M was from other institutes at NIH. From 2016-2020, members published 880 cancer-relevant, peer-reviewed papers. Of these publications, 13% were in high-impact journals (JIF >10) and the average impact factor for all 880 publications is 6.1. Since renewing the CCSG in 2017, CB program cohesion and integration have increased, with 21% of the publications during the funding cycle resulting from inter-programmatic interactions (up from 20% in 2016) and 29% from intra-programmatic interactions (up from 21% in 2016). CB members are well-integrated into the national and international scientific community as evident by over half of the publications (51%) including authors from other institutions and 23% including authors from other NCI-designated cancer centers. CB is jointly led by Kristi Neufeld (KU-L), Linheng Li (Stowers), Sufi Thomas (KUMC), and Tomoo Iwakuma (CM), who bring complementary scientific expertise in cell biology, stem cell biology, biochemistry, translational research, leadership experience, and varied institutional representation. Shrikant Anant is Associate Director for Basic Science. CB leadership employs a variety of mechanisms to foster intra- and inter-programmatic collaborations, including research retreats, seminars, research symposia, and targeted pilot funding. CB has taken advantage of historical institutional strengths in catchment area priorities, GI, and hematologic cancers, with recruitment strengthening our research on breast and tobacco-related cancers. CB members have expertise that can be organized into four discipline-based themes: 1) cancer metastasis and tumor microenvironment; 2) DNA damage/repair and regulation; 3) stem cell biology; and 4) cell signaling pathways.