# Core 2: Ecological Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · H. LEE MOFFITT CANCER CTR & RES INST · 2023 · $337,871

## Abstract

Summary – Ecological Core
Recent advances in spatial ‘omics’ have led to an increased interest in studying and predicting emergent
aggregate behavior and interactions between the tumor and its microenvironment. Tumors are dynamic,
rapidly evolving and undergoing ecological shifts; therefore, the understanding of tumor progression and
response to therapy will benefit from studying eco-evolutionary interactions over time. Investigation of the
spatial and spatiotemporal interactions within the tumor immune microenvironment requires computational
approaches to identify and investigate the diverse ecological patterns that emerge by virtue of these complex
dynamics. The Ecological Analysis Core will cater to the generation, investigation, and application of the spatial
ecological models and techniques to support the two non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)-focused Projects of
the proposal. Given that ecological change over space and/or time (the Δ-Ecology) is a central theme shared
by both Projects, the Core is poised to support and tailor the tools to the requirements of each Project. The
Core will have the capability to the ability to manage, visualize, store, share, and perform quantitative analyses
of the high-dimensional and high-resolution clinical and experimental histology images. We will also build
important computational approaches and developmental frameworks to improve our understanding and
prediction of emergent tumor behavior using the images. In summary, the Core will develop and apply spatial
ecological models in concert with mathematical models from the Mathematical Modeling Core to understand
the evolutionary ecology underlying the diversity and maintenance of tumor heterogeneity, and how this can be
leveraged to guide new therapeutic strategies for lung cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10730409
- **Project number:** 1U54CA274507-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** H. LEE MOFFITT CANCER CTR & RES INST
- **Principal Investigator:** Joel Brown
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $337,871
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-09-15 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10730409

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10730409, Core 2: Ecological Core (1U54CA274507-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10730409. Licensed CC0.

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