# Translational science specialist in genitourinary cancers

> **NIH NIH R50** · CLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER COM-CWRU · 2021 · $165,535

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
This Research Specialist proposal will support my 2 main roles in my Unit Director's (Nima Sharifi, M.D.) research
program. My primary role is focused on laboratory management, animal model (mouse) projects, and clinical
studies in my Unit Director's laboratory, while my secondary role is as Program Manager for the Genitourinary
Malignancies Research Center (GUMRC), which is led by my Unit Director. For the Unit Director's laboratory in
addition to maintaining safety and compliance of all research personnel, I am essential to the advancement of
laboratory techniques, diagnostic tools and critical planning required to meet the goals of our NCI-funded and
other cancer research. I am significantly involved in all in vivo animal model work including preparation and
submission of all protocols to the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), as well as the surgical
and technical portions of the experiments. I am instrumental in training our unit's personnel (clinical fellows,
residents, postdocs, technologists and students) in these critical techniques (both in vivo and lab based) in an
effort to maintain scientific congruence while ensuring that laboratory personnel adhere to IACUC, Institutional
Review Board and Institutional Biosafety Committee rules and regulations. For my Unit Director's laboratory, our
primary focus remains on prostate cancer. While treatment of localized disease results in favorable outcomes,
metastatic prostate cancer remains incurable. The frontline treatment for advanced metastatic prostate cancer
is medical or surgical castration to reduce androgen hormone levels, referred to as androgen deprivation therapy
(ADT). When successful, ADT reduces intratumoral androgens, resulting in absence of androgen receptor (AR)
signaling. However, these tumors commonly develop ADT-resistance and are termed castration-resistant
prostate cancer (CRPC). Our research goals focus on how prostate cancer cells can produce their own steroids
in response to ADT, thus leading to cancer progression. By understanding the foundations of CRPC and the
mechanisms that drive therapeutic resistance, we aim to identify new drug targets and treatments for diagnosis
and treatment. For my Unit Director's clinical studies and extending into our GUMRC, I participate in study
conceptualization and function as the intermediary between the Unit Director and our clinical collaborators. The
GUMRC is focused on basic and translational studies of GU malignancies (prostate, bladder, and kidney). The
center is an inter-disciplinary translational partnership that leverages Cleveland Clinic's research and clinical
strengths to accelerate bench-to-bedside therapeutic discoveries. This Research Specialist award will allow me
to 1) continue to provide my expertise in study design and technical skills for current and future NCI-funded GU
projects, as well as to develop innovative methods to better achieve our goals, and 2) develop greater knowledge
and the s...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10238029
- **Project number:** 5R50CA251961-02
- **Recipient organization:** CLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER COM-CWRU
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael P. Berk
- **Activity code:** R50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $165,535
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-13 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10238029

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10238029, Translational science specialist in genitourinary cancers (5R50CA251961-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10238029. Licensed CC0.

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