Cancer Therapeutics Program

Abstract: Cancer Therapeutics (CT) The overarching goal of the Cancer Therapeutics (CT) Program is to develop innovative approaches to discover, design, develop, and validate novel anticancer agents and combination regimens for the treatment of human cancers. To achieve this mission, the Program focuses on three main themes: (1) discover and develop in a pre-clinical setting, novel targets and assays to complement the innovative approaches to drug discovery, novel agents, and combination regimens; (2) investigate the mechanisms of action of new and existing anticancer agents; and (3) conduct early-phase (I/II) clinical trials with a focus on translation of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center (HCC) science and discoveries of novel agents, as well as in partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), NCI cancer centers, other academic centers, cooperative groups, and industry. The strategy for successfully carrying out this mission requires the involvement of the entire continuum of basic, preclinical, and clinical/translational research. Under the leadership of Adam Brufsky, MD, PhD, Edward Chu, MD and Peter Wipf, PhD, CT has 58 members representing 16 academic departments and 5 schools within the University of Pittsburgh. CT members conduct cancer-focused research supported by $14.9M in total annual direct costs funding, of which $2.8M is NCI funding, $2.0M is other peer-reviewed, and $10.1M is non- peer reviewed. From 2015-August 2019, CT members published 1,116 cancer-related publications representing 26% intra-programmatic, 41% inter-programmatic and 64% inter-institutional collaborations. HCC support, including Clinical Protocol and Data Management and all Shared Resources, greatly facilitate and enhance CTP research.