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Welcome to the
Translational and Basic Science Research
in Early Lesions (TBEL)

Research Consortia

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The overarching goal of the TBEL Program, which is supported by Division of Cancer Biology (DCB) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Division of Cancer Prevention, through the Resource-Related Research Projects Cooperative Agreements RFA-CA-21-054 / RFA-CA-21-055, is to understand the biological and pathophysiological mechanisms driving or restraining pre-cancers and early cancers, as well as to facilitate biology-backed precision prevention approaches.

 

Learn more on the National Cancer Institute's website, which provides more information on the TBEL program and awarded projects.

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The following organizations are the U54 Project awardees of the TBEL Program by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer was awarded TBEL U54 Research Project Tumor Microenvironment Crosstalk Drives Early Lesions in Pancreatic Cancer by the National Cancer Institute

Principal Investigators: Anirban MaitraMarina Pasca Di Magliano
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The Houston Methodist Research Institute was awarded TBEL U54 Research Project The Stromal Microenvironment as a Co-Organizer of Bladder Carcinogenesis and Progression by the National Cancer Institute

Principal Investigators: Keith Syson Chan, Dan Theodorescu
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The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center was awarded TBEL U54 Research Project Understanding Adenoma Progression: Interplay Among Tissue Microenvironment, Clonal Architecture, and Gut Microbiome by the National Cancer Institute

Principal Investigators: William M. Grady, Neelendu Dey, Richard B.Halberg
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The John Hopkins University was awarded TBEL U54 Research Project Prostate Inflammatory Lesions as a Proving Ground for Development of Aggressive Prostate Cancer by the National Cancer Institute

Principal Investigators: Angelo M. De Marzo, Srinivasan Yegnasubramanian 
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The Vanderbilt University Medical Center was awarded TBEL U54 Research Project Shaping of the Microenvironment in Colonic Pre-Cancer by Epithelia and Microbiota by the National Cancer Institute

Principal Investigators: Martha J. Shrubsole, Ken S. Lau

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is honored to be designated as the Coordinating and Data Management Center (CDMC) by the National Cancer Institute for the Translational and Basic Science Research in Early Lesions (TBEL) Research Consortia.

This honor aligns with our mission to eliminate cancer in Texas, the nation, and the world through outstanding programs that integrate patient care, research, and prevention, and through education for undergraduate and graduate students, trainees, professionals, employees, and the public.

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Dr. Liang Li, Ph.D.

Dr. Liang Li is a Professor at the Department of Biostatistics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Learn more about Dr. Liang Li's research on his faculty profile at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

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Dr. Ying Yuan, Ph.D.

Dr. Ying Yuan is a Professor at the Department of Biostatistics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Learn more about Dr. Ying Yuan's research on his faculty profile at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Coordinating and Data Management Center
Principal Investigators

The Department of Biostatistics at MD Anderson provides statistical collaboration, consultation, and quantitative research resources to clinical, laboratory, and prevention scientists, and engages in the planning, conduct, analysis, quality assurance, and interpretation of research studies. The faculty develop new statistical methodology to support cancer research: innovative clinical trial designs, Bayesian methods; longitudinal and survival data analysis; cancer screening and early detection; computer-intensive statistical methods for integrated high dimensional omics data analysis; functional, imaging, and biomarker data analysis; statistical modeling of observational processes; biological and medical informatics. The Department is supported by a Quantitative Research Computing (QRC) group, consisting of an Associate Director, 4 system and network administrators and a staff of 23 programmers who specialize in clinical trial software, data management, Bayesian numerical analysis, and bioinformatics and computational biology software engineering.

Coordinating and Data Management Center
Department & Expertise

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is located within the Texas Medical Center, a 700-acre campus south of downtown Houston home to 46 not-for-profit institutions dedicated to providing the highest quality of medical care and conducting state-of-the-art research. MD Anderson Cancer Center provides world-class shared resources such as the Clinical and Translational Research Center, Research Animal Support Facility, Tissue Biospecimen and Pathology Resource, RNA sequencing facilities, and many others under the auspices of the Cancer Center Support Grant. MD Anderson is also home to the Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, dedicated to discovering biomarkers that predict treatment response and mechanisms of acquired resistance.

Coordinating and Data Management Center
Facility & Resources 
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Coordinating and Data Management Center
NIH Project Information

Public Health Relevance Statement

We propose to establish a Coordinating and Data Management Center (CDMC) for the Program on the Translational and Basic Science Research in Early Lesions (TBEL), which is being established to undertake various translational and basic science studies to provide fundamental knowledge on the mechanisms driving or restraining early cancers. The proposed CDMC will support critical administrative, regulatory, managerial, logistics, data-analytic, computational, and financial functions of the TBEL Program.

Project Abstract

Early diagnosis of cancer can improve therapeutic effect and prolong patient survival. The increasingly sensitive and widely adopted early cancer screening technologies have led to significantly more detection of early lesions that may or may not progress to cancer. Elucidating the mechanisms that drive or restrain early cancer would allow differentiation of aggressive cancer versus indolent types, improving personalized treatment and avoiding over-diagnosis and over-treatment. Whether an early lesion progress to cancer or not is not solely decided by the molecular profile of the lesion but also is impacted by the surrounding microenvironment and mediated by other epidemiologic factors.

 

Meanwhile, the progression of an early lesion to malignancy is a complex process that may take years to occur. The complexities of the problem highlight the unmet needs for researchers from basic to translational science to collaborate and coordinate in the research of the underlying mechanisms between early lesion and cancer development.

 

In response to RFA-CA-21-055, we propose a Coordinating and Data Management Center (CDMC) for the Translational and Basic Science Research in Early Lesions (TBEL) Program. The CDMC interacts closely with other entities of the Program, including the Steering Committee, the Research Centers, biospecimen and image repository, pathology centers, sequencing facilities, Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), and NCI, and provides critical scientific, administrative, regulatory, managerial, logistic, and data-analytic support to the TBEL Program.

 

Our proposed CDMC infrastructure and operating procedures have been time-tested in an ongoing NIH-funded Consortium for the Study of Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes and Pancreatic Cancer. Specifically, the proposed work includes the three aspects of required responsibilities: consortium coordination (Aim 1), statistical and computational support (Aim 2), and data management, study protocol development and implementation (Aim 3).

 

Our team of experts include information technology specialists who have been supporting and developing innovative software tools for numerous basic and translation cancer studies, experienced research coordinators who have worked on both NIH- and industry-funded multicenter studies, and faculty statisticians and bioinformaticians who have led CDMC work for large NIH consortiums and are well- known experts in biostatistics and bioinformatics methodological research areas closely related to biomarker development, risk prediction, single cell analysis, image analysis, machine learning, and clinical trials.

Project Number: 1U24CA274212-01

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Types of Cancer Research

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Basic Research

Basic Research seeks to understand the fundamental aspects of nature. It provides the foundation for advances against cancer.

Clinical Research

Clinical Research tests drugs, medical devices, or other interventions in human volunteers to improve aspects of patient care.

Population-Based Research

Population-Based Research explores the cause of cancer, cancer trends, and factors that affect the delivery and outcomes of cancer care in specific populations.

Translational Research

Translational Research moves basic research findings into clinic and clinic research findings into everyday care. In turn, results from clinical and population-based studies can guide basic research.

Watch Driving Discovery, a video by the National Cancer Institute demonstrating how they drive the cancer research enterprise by supporting and convening researchers, paying for facilities and systems, coordinating the nation's cancer plan, and more for our joint cancer-related initiatives.

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National Cancer Institute (NCI) Overview

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is the federal government's principal agency for cancer research and training. NCI is deeply committed to the core values of equity, diversity, and inclusion that allow all staff to reach their potential and fully contribute to the institute’s cancer mission.

So, how does the National Cancer Institute receive funding?

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Stage One:

The White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) coordinates with federal agencies to formulate the President's Budget, which covers all federal agencies, including the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), and reflects the President's priorities. The President submits the budget to Congress, which must pass appropriations legislation that funds federal agencies.

Stage Two:

The congressional appropriations committees consider the President's Budget as they prepare appropriations legislation for the next fiscal year.

Stage Three:

The appropriations committees finalize their legislative proposals, and the House and Senate consider the proposed legislation. Once passed and reconciled into a unified bill, Congress sends the legislation to the President.

Stage Four:

The President signs the appropriations bill into law, making funds available to executive agencies, including NCI and NIH.

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