Contact:
Sudhir Srivastava, Ph.D.,MPH,MS
Chief, Cancer Biomarkers Research Group
Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute
6130 Executive Plaza North, Suite 3142
Bethesda, MD 20892
Voice 301-496-3983
FAX 301-402-8990
ss1a@nih.gov
Objective of Project:
The Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP), National Cancer Institute (NCI), invites new and competing renewal cooperative agreements and NIH intramural applications to continue the national Network that has the responsibility for the development, evaluation, and validation of biomarkers for earlier cancer detection and risk assessment. Biomarkers are defined as cellular, biochemical, molecular, or genetic and epigenetic alterations by which a normal, abnormal, or simply biologic process can be recognized, or monitored. Biomarkers are measurable in biological media, such as in tissues, cells, or fluids. The Network has four main components - Biomarker Development Laboratories, Biomarkers Reference Laboratories (formerly known as Biomarkers Validation Laboratories), Clinical Epidemiology and Validation Centers (formerly known as Clinical and Epidemiologic Centers) and a Data Management and Coordinating Center. The Biomarkers Developmental Laboratories have responsibility for the development and characterization of new, or refinement of existing biomarkers; the Biomarkers Reference Laboratories serve as a Network resource for clinical and laboratory validation of biomarkers, which include technological development and refinement; and the Clinical Epidemiology and Validation Centers collaboratively conduct clinical and epidemiological research on the Network-wide clinical validation of biomarkers. A Steering Committee is composed of the Principal Investigators in the Network and appropriate NCI staff coordinate the work of the consortium. Logistic support and informatics are provided through a Data Management and Coordinating Center. For further details, see http://www3.cancer.gov/prevention/cbrg/edrn/.
Description of Project:
Biological, morphological, and clinical alterations occurring in premalignant and malignant lesions offer the opportunity to delineate the early stages of tumor progression, thereby providing a wider window of opportunity for early detection and risk assessment. EDRN supports translational research in the biology of incipient neoplasia encompassing the development, characterization and testing of biomarkers of early cancer or risk, development of relevant technologies for biomarker detection, analytical tools for data analysis and interpretation, and the validation of biomarkers for clinical outcome. Translational research in this context is defined as the movement of discoveries from the laboratories into patient or population research settings or the movement of observations from patient settings back to the laboratory. Each component in the Network will be funded through separate Requests for Applications.