# Training in Tumor Virology

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2021 · $341,268

## Abstract

Principal Investigator: Robertson, Erle S.
Program summary
20% of all human cancers are associated with viruses functioning as biological cofactors in
driving these cancers. Some of these viruses may have a direct role in mediating these cancers as
in the case of HIV related cancers which includes Kaposi’s sarcoma, pleural effusion lymphomas
and lymphoproliferative disease. There is also an increase in the number of HPV related patients
for example in the immunocompromised patients who are on HAART therapy and in head and
neck squamous cell carcinomas. The Tumor Virology Training Program at the University of
Pennsylvania serves as the central forum for facilitating interactions among investigators
involved in cancer-related viral research on the Penn campus which provides a more directed
training for trainees. Program members have expertise in EBV, KSHV, HPV, HCV, HIV and
other retroviruses. The biomedical community at Penn would like to continue the momentum of
this training program in Tumor Virology for training predoctoral and postdoctoral students.
There are 18 trainers in this program all of whom are committed to training pre and postdoctoral
fellows for biomedical research careers. All faculty have well-funded NIH programs supported
by the R21, R01, R43 or P01 mechanism, DOD and other private foundation monies. The
training program seeks to continue support of 2 predoctoral and 4 postdoctoral students annually
for each of the 5 years of funding. The number of trainees in labs of the trainers of this program
has been consistently increasing and we anticipate this trend continuing in the coming years.
Thus, we would like to have available slots for this continued increase in the number of
predoctoral and postdoctoral candidates in the program. Viral related cancers are expected to
increase as the technology for identifying these agents improves. We expect to provide an
atmosphere of collaboration between clinical and basic scientists for our trainees who will have
the opportunity to formulate ideas which will lead to basic and translational studies initiating and
maintaining a cohesive group in tumor virology. The increased incidence of viral associated
cancers, the commitment of the trainers and the institution with a well organized training
program will provide an outstanding training environment for pre and postdoctoral candidates in
tumor virology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10217019
- **Project number:** 5T32CA115299-15
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** ERLE S. ROBERTSON
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $341,268
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2006-09-29 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10217019

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10217019, Training in Tumor Virology (5T32CA115299-15). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10217019. Licensed CC0.

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