DEVELOPMENTAL FUNDS PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (CFCCC) utilizes Developmental Funds to support critical priorities, aligned with strategic planning, in order to grow and enhance key scientific areas. Prior funds provided support for staff investigators, faculty recruitment and pilot project funding. In the future funding period, investments will continue to be focused in these three areas: Faculty Recruitment: CFCCC has been extensively focused on the recruitment of cancer-focused faculty recruitments during the current funding period and this remains a priority as outlined in the 2020-2025 CFCCC Strategic Plan. CFCCC requests Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) funds for partial support of strategic faculty recruitments. Pilot Project Funding: The investment in research proposals to pursue innovative ideas and stimulate high priority research areas (e.g., population science, translational research, research on underrepresented populations, and early phase clinical trials) are critical to ensure a high likelihood of future extramural grant awards. CCSG Developmental Funds will supplement additional funds provided through the Anti-Cancer Challenge (a peer-to-peer fundraising initiative established by Center Director Richard Van Etten, MD, PhD), philanthropic, and other institutional funds. Research Staff Investigators: CFCCC staff investigators are supported through CCSG Developmental Funds to foster the advancement of key strategic objectives of the Center. Staff Investigators enable the advancement of priority strategic objectives of the CFCCC. The funded researchers are CFCCC members who are important contributors to the scientific, translational, and clinical research activities of the Center and who serve in a significant role in helping the Center achieve scientific objectives above and beyond their own research. During the future funding period, support will be provided for Farshid Dayyani, MD, PhD and Edward Uchio, MD who are disease leaders of and significant contributors to clinical research activity, enrolling a large number of patients in trials and developing and writing investigator-initiated trials with specific regard to CFCCC's Catchment Area.