# NYU Melanoma SPORE

> **NIH NIH P50** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2021 · $2,065,182

## Abstract

OVERALL PROJECT SUMMARY
The impressive clinical successes in immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) therapy over the last decade have not
been matched by the development of clinically useful tools to predict patient response and toxicity. The
integration of biomarkers of patient outcome and toxicity into clinical care would allow more optimal treatment
selection. The primary objective of the New York University (NYU) Melanoma SPORE is to address the
urgent need to develop and validate clinically useful, personalized biomarkers to optimally administer
immune checkpoint inhibition therapies in the adjuvant setting. We have chosen to concentrate our efforts
in this area because FDA approval of immunotherapies in this clinical context has led to a significant increase in
the utilization of these treatments with expansion of adjuvant trials to other cancers. The use of adjuvant ICI will
alter the immunobiology of melanoma and other malignancies as well. Identifying biomarkers of benefit and
toxicity is critical, timely, and promises to have broad applicability. All of our projects were revised to reflect this
adjusted focus, making the goals of the overall program more cohesive, achievable, and impactful.
The development of new biomarkers requires a phased approach. The NYU Melanoma SPORE includes projects
that span the biomarker development path from target identification and clinical relevance (Projects 1, 2, 3, 4),
to assay and clinical validation (Projects 3, 4), and ultimately clinical utility with testing in an investigator-initiated
clinical trial (Project 3). The NYU Melanoma SPORE is particularly well suited to achieve this objective due to
our broad patient base and our translational expertise in biomarker identification and development. Physicians
at NYU Langone Health (NYULH) treat over 1,000 new melanoma patients annually. As a flagship research
program of the NCI-funded NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center (PCC), our melanoma translational research program
has an established track record of collaboration and high impact findings in melanoma biomarker development,
empowered by rich biospecimen resources from over 3,800 patients treated at NYULH These resources and
extensive institutional infrastructure and capabilities will enable the NYU Melanoma SPORE to characterize
novel personalized biomarkers for melanoma patient clinical management. The scope and scalability of these
resources will extend to our studies of 2,700 melanoma patients enrolled in phase III, multisite clinical trials in
the adjuvant setting (CheckMate 238, CheckMate 915 and KEYNOTE 716). The NYU Melanoma SPORE
PD/PIs, Drs. Iman Osman and Jeffrey Weber, merge complementary expertise in melanoma ICI drug
development, clinical trials, and biomarker investigations. We will apply our strengths to solve pressing needs in
the melanoma field which which can be extended to the increasing number of ICI--treated cancers.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10200696
- **Project number:** 5P50CA225450-03
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Iman Osman
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $2,065,182
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-19 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10200696

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10200696, NYU Melanoma SPORE (5P50CA225450-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10200696. Licensed CC0.

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