# University of California Minority Patient-Derived Xenograft (PDX) Development and Trial Center (UCaMP) to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities

> **NIH NIH U54** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · 2020 · $145,306

## Abstract

OVERALL
University of California Minority Patient-Derived Xenograft (PDX) Development and Trial Center
(UCaMP) to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The goal of UCaMP is to establish and characterize at least 200 patient-derived cancer xenografts (PDXs), and
utilize these PDXs in preclinical testing of single agents and drug combinations that help guide future clinical
decision-making emphasizing the largest racial/ethnic minority populations residing in California:
Hispanic/Latino Americans [HLAs], Asian American/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander [AANHPIs], and African
American [AAs] compared to Non-Hispanic Whites [NHWs]. We have established an accomplished
transdisciplinary research team with an outstanding infrastructure that includes a University of California-wide
central IRB system called Reliance and strong preliminary data to support the proposed PDX and cancer
disparities research, thus allowing our results to be easily translated to clinical trials. UCaMP is comprised of
four University of California NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers: UC Davis Comprehensive
Cancer Center (UC Davis), UC Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCLA), UC Irvine Health
Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (UC Irvine), and UC San Francisco Helen Diller Family
Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCSF). Our collective strengths include complementary expertise in PDX
development and drug testing, cancer health disparities, and clinical trial development robustly supported by
cores for PDX, Pilot Studies, Bioinformatics, and Administration. We will achieve our goal through two
Research Projects. Project 1 - Characterizing Treatment Responses with PDX Models for Gastric and Liver
Tumors, specifically addresses cancer health disparities in gastric cancers (GC) and liver cancers (LC) that
disproportionately affect all racial/ethnic minorities especially in HLA and AANHPI populations. By
understanding the genetic and response differences among HLA, AANHPI compared to NHWs, we could
enhance the precision of therapeutic treatments, identify resistance-associated biomarkers, and study
resistance mechanisms to targeted therapies. Project 2 - Characterizing Treatment Responses with PDX
Models for Lung and Bladder Tumors focuses on treatment disparities between AA and NHW patients to
identify therapies targeting common genetic alterations (e.g. PI3K pathway) and to reveal targeted therapy
resistance mechanisms for lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) and advanced bladder cancer (aBC).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10154196
- **Project number:** 3U54CA233306-01S3
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Luis Guillermo Carvajal Carmona
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $145,306
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-09-21 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10154196

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10154196, University of California Minority Patient-Derived Xenograft (PDX) Development and Trial Center (UCaMP) to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (3U54CA233306-01S3). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10154196. Licensed CC0.

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