# Cellular Mechanisms

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2024 · $34,636

## Abstract

Cellular Mechanisms Program Summary
The Cellular Mechanisms (CM) Program focuses on defining the key signaling and transcriptional mechanisms
that drive tumor progression, both within tumor cells and in the tumor microenvironment, and developing new
therapeutic approaches to target these mechanisms. The goal of the CM Program is to integrate the
information gained from our synergistic research areas to identify novel tumor and host-cell mechanisms that
can be exploited to define new biomarkers or to limit disease progression and metastasis. The CM Research
Program is structured around 3 well-integrated Aims: 1) Identify biomarkers of early disease and oncogenic
signaling pathways that can be targeted to limit tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis; 2) Define,
characterize, and regulate transcriptional programs that enhance malignancy or resistance to therapy; and 3)
Determine how tumor–stromal interactions impact tumor progression, invasion, migration, and metastasis, and
develop host-based therapies that target oncogenic signaling pathways in tumor cells.
The CM Program is co-led by Daniel Harki, PhD, an expert in medicinal chemistry and drug development, and
Kaylee Schwertfeger, PhD, an expert in tumor cell signaling and mechanisms of tumor–stromal interactions.
CM’s 50 members, representing 18 departments and 7 schools or colleges, are highly collaborative, are
leaders in their fields, and include several scholars with both clinical and laboratory expertise. In 2022, they
were supported by $20.8M in cancer-relevant research funding, of which $8.8M was from the NCI. Since 2018,
Program members have published 642 papers, 12% of which resulted from intraprogrammatic collaborations,
32% from interprogrammatic collaborations, and 67% from external collaborations. To move their research
from the bench to the clinic, they participate in several Translational Working Groups and lead interventional
clinical trials evaluating new targeted therapies and observational clinical trials to diagnose tumors using novel
molecular and imaging technologies.
The Masonic Cancer Center has provided substantial value to the program, including access to Shared
Resources, funding of pilot projects that were effectively leveraged into larger external grants, engagement
with clinicians through the Translational Working Groups, and support from the Cancer Research Translational
Initiative to move CM basic and translational research to the clinic.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10768146
- **Project number:** 2P30CA077598-26
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Kathryn L Schwertfeger
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $34,636
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1998-06-01 → 2029-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10768146

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10768146, Cellular Mechanisms (2P30CA077598-26). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10768146. Licensed CC0.

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