# Developmental Funds

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2023 · $441,375

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY – Developmental Funds
Developmental Funds (DFs) add significant value to the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center (NCCC)
members who conduct basic, translational, clinical, and population research. Specifically, we utilized CCSG DFs
in the current grant period to recruit 11 new faculty members, to support seven CCSG pilot projects, and to
catalyze a restructuring of our bioinformatics platform, leading to the expansion of the NCCC Biostatistics Core
into a full-service Data Science Shared Resource (SR). Notably, DFs were utilized, in part, to support the cluster
recruitment of John Carpten PhD and colleagues from the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen)
who competed successfully for several new grants including a new NCI U54 Center for Health Equity which
integrates faculty across all five NCCC Programs. CCSG DFs were augmented by substantial institutional
investments to foster high impact collaborative research with emphasis on addressing cancer burdens and
disparities in our catchment area. The return on investment (ROI) for CCSG DFs in the current period is 21:1
and contributed to the increase in NCI funding by 22%, peer-reviewed funding by 11%, and overall cancer
related funding by 18% (direct costs). The process for awarding DFs is led by Administration with final
decisions made by the NCCC Director with input from Senior and Program Leaders. There are notable
improvements in this process during the current grant period. First, based on the NCCC Strategic Plan,
targeted areas for DF-supported faculty recruitments are identified by the Executive Committee and faculty
are recruited through a systematic search process. Second, the new Director refreshed the Scientific
Review Committee for DF-supported pilot projects; this committee reviews and scores all applications for
internally-funded pilot award opportunities. Further, the new Associate Director for Administration enhanced
the pilot awards process, from the distribution of RFAs, to review and decision-making, and finally to the
tracking of metrics of success for DF-supported members. Tracking of metrics of success for faculty recruits
and pilot grants has been enhanced substantially through the recruitment of a seasoned research
administrator. In this application, we request ($1,375,000) to support strategic faculty recruitments ($1M)
and developmental pilot projects ($375K), to be supplemented by institutional investments, as we did in the
current project period. The new NCCC Strategic Plan, “Shaping the Future of Cancer Science 2020-2025”,
will guide these future investments, with a focus on specific priorities: interventions to reduce cancer
disparities, cancer therapeutics/drug and biomarker development, and translational and clinical
research in immune-oncology. As in the current period, we will maintain a sharp focus on recruiting faculty
who are underrepresented in medicine.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10620200
- **Project number:** 5P30CA014089-47
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** CARYN LERMAN
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $441,375
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1996-12-01 → 2026-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10620200

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10620200, Developmental Funds (5P30CA014089-47). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10620200. Licensed CC0.

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