Developmental Research Program

Developmental Research Program - Abstract
The UNC Breast Cancer SPORE Developmental Research Program (DRP) has promoted novel breast cancer
research across the population, translational, and clinical arenas. This highly successful Program includes
mechanisms for stimulating grant applications, rigorously evaluating proposals, selecting projects with
advocate input, and monitoring progress. A new component will specifically solicit and evaluate DRP proposals
from underrepresented in medicine (URIM) faculty including those from our two historically Black colleges and
universities (HBCU) partners. Shelton Earp, MD, who has led this program since its inception in 1992 will
continue to oversee the DRP with process and evaluation with assistance from Marjory Charlot, MD, MPH,
MSc, LCCC Assistant Director of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE), David Darr, MBA, MSc,
LCCC Associate Director for Administration, and Victoria Doyle SPORE Administrator. Application
mechanisms include both regular competitive awards as well as rapidly emerging opportunities. Evaluation and
selection processes include a well-established, independent peer review that includes patient advocates and
LCCC COE Community Advisors. The SPORE Multi-PIs, with input from the Executive Committee, make final
decisions regarding selection and budget. During the last cycle, we expanded formal solicitation to other UNC
system universities, including our U54 HBCU partner, NC Central University, the other public medical school in
NC at East Carolina University, and two STEM-focused partner institutions, NC State University, and more
recently NC Agriculture & Technical State University (NC A&T), the US’s largest historically Black institution.
The program has increased in the past decade due to increased institutional commitment. In this next cycle,
this commitment will total $225,000 yearly, the current commitment of $200,000 with an additional $25,000 to
match the new SPORE increment for grants to URIM applicants. This allows a robust twice-yearly solicitation
for competitive DRP awards across UNC and our sister UNC System universities. UNC Lineberger’s
commitment to the Breast SPORE goes beyond this, with the Multi-PIs and Cancer Center investing directly in
major programs (e.g., CBCS Phase 4), infrastructures (tripling of the size of the cellular therapy GMP facility)
and technology (a new NovaSeq and the recent COSMx purchase). The Multi-PIs co-conceptualize the
emerging investments with the needs of CEP recruits in mind. Since the last renewal, the program funded thirty
projects, initiating two renewal full SPORE projects as well as seeding preliminary research yielding extramural
funding from non-SPORE sources and important publications. In this renewal, we are requesting a $75,000
DRP budget to include the $25,000 yearly for research by URIM faculty; our CEP efforts have recruited eight
URIM faculty whose research programs we wish to develop.