PROJECT SUMMARY Dr. Yiling Lu is a Research Non-Tenure-Track-Professor at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) where she has served as a Core Manager of the CCSG Core of Functional Proteomics by Reverse Phase protein Array (RPPA). The Core is located in the Department of Systems Biology chaired by Dr. Gordon B Mills who acting as the Primary Unit Director in this award application. The RPPA Core provides MDACC investigators, their collaborators and the cancer research community with a powerful high throughput, quantitative, cost-effective technology for functional proteomics studies. The Core has analyzed more than 125,742 samples from 547 cancer researches across from the world over the last 8 years and supported for over 265 publications including high profile journals and more then 10 million dollars of peer-reviewed grant funding from the NCI and other agencies. The most significant evidence for the utility and robustness of the RPPA Core is that its inclusion in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) analysis for each disease type and its participation in over 25 of “pancan” “markers” papers in New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Cell and Science and their clones. In addition to the generation of high quality RPPA data, one of the key aspects of the Core is the provision of functional proteomics data to the community. This is facilitated through the RPPA data being integrated into the cBioportal and being made available for downloading, analysis and visualization through The Cancer Proteome Atlas (TCPA portal). The RPPA contributions to progress in cancer research impact this scientific field around the world. Cancer targeted therapy is designed to capitalize on the vulnerabilities of tumor cells arising from the rewiring of functional networks as a consequence of the genomic and epigenetic changes in tumor or their effects on the tumor environment, impacting cellular protein functions. Thus, direct assessment of the targeted effects, both predicted and unexpected, on the key proteins in signaling networks is required. As clarified in this application, the facility will continue to provide RPPA services to MDACC investigators and the worldwide research community. 1) The facility will continue to expand the validated antibody repertoire to cover varies signaling pathways. 2) The facility will continue to improve the quality and accuracy of RPPA data sets. 3) The facility will continue to work with a contractor to build a RPPA pipeline automation program to decrease turnaround time. 4) The facility will develop the RPPA technology to maximize its applications for clinical usage. 5) The facility will develop single cell analysis through Nanostring technology and add it to functional proteomics service to meet the interests from investigators. To ensure the utility of the RPPA resource, Dr. Lu has multiple active collaborations at MDACC, as well as, nationally and internationally for her scientific activities and career development...