Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions on EDRN collaborative opportunities.

Q. What are the advantages for an Associate Member?: A. Associate Membership provides a forum for collaborating with EDRN investigators and sharing resources that include technology, specimens, cohorts and laboratories for validation. Associate members are invited to participate in the workshops and other EDRN meetings.
Q. Who are EDRN affiliated investigators?: A. EDRN affiliated investigators include: 1) EDRN Principal Investigators and Co-Principal Investigators; 2) collaborators, consultants, contractors or any other individuals directly involved in the activities of the funded EDRN applications, and 3) previously approved Associate Members.
Q. How long does the Associate Membership last?: A. Associate membership will be active for the duration of EDRN, regardless of the duration of funding.
Q. How long does it take before knowing the results of the review?: A. The results of the review will be communicated to the applicant within three months.
Q. Who can I contact for more questions on Associate Membership?: A. Contact the corresponding NCI Program Director (Christos Patriotis)
Q. What are the priorities of the EDRN?: A. Current EDRN research priorities, which are likely to be refocused with changing needs and progress, are listed below for Associate Membership A and B applicants. Category C applicants do not need to respond to these priorities.

Development of technology platforms for high-throughput assays of biochemical, molecular and cellular targets; EDRN is specifically soliciting proposals for methylation and telomerase assays.
Development of novel tools for improving collections for biological materials, such as plasma DNA, telomerase and other relevant sampling procedures enabling analyte stability, e.g., RNA and reproducible molecular assays.
Defining molecular signatures of cancer cells studying on the natural history of the disease to facilitate development of biomarkers for earlier cancer detection of the following cancers: breast, mesothelioma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, esophageal cancer, endometrial cancer, and kidney cancers.
Development of novel statistical methodologies for high-volume data analysis, including DNA, RNA, and protein array data.
Development of novel non-randomized clinical study designs to validate biomarkers.
Development of computer simulation models for risk assessment and cancer progression employing molecular signatures.

Collaboration on sharing tissue resources, including precancerous tissues of lung and upper aerodigestive specimens with associated clinical and epidemiological data; frozen normal, precancerous, and cancerous prostate tissue; existing prospective tissue banks, particularly but not limited to testing breast and gynecologic cancer specimens.
Sharing tissue array facilities for all cancer sites, particularly breast and gynecologic cancers.