# Program 35: Melanoma

> **NIH NIH P30** · DANA-FARBER CANCER INST · 2024 · $40,758

## Abstract

Melanoma Program
Project Summary / Abstract
The Melanoma Program seeks to study all aspects of melanoma with the goal of advancing our understanding
of the disease and translating the knowledge into improvements in diagnosis, prevention, and therapy to
improve or save the lives of melanoma patients. Its members include international leaders who have made
seminal contributions to both the basic understanding of melanoma and the management of patients, with
direct impact on vastly improved clinical outcomes. Our collaborative research is embodied in part in a
patient biopsy program coordinated by surgical and medical oncologists and dermatopathologists. Well-
annotated tumor samples before, during, and after therapy enable deep understanding of genomic and
molecular evolution in melanoma and address questions related to treatment responsiveness; this tumor
bank is widely shared with investigators within and well beyond the Cancer Center. Beyond this resource,
the Program has deep roots in basic research, translation, pivotal clinical trials, and in training outstanding
melanoma researchers.
The Program’s 43 members (35 primary and 8 secondary) represent all seven DF/HCC institutions and 10
academic departments. In 2019, peer-reviewed grant funding attributed to the Program was $2.4 million in
direct costs from the NCI and $2.0 million from other sponsors. During the current funding period, primary
Program members published 564 cancer-relevant papers. Of these 26% were inter-institutional, 18% were
intra-programmatic, and 45% were inter-programmatic collaborations between two or more DF/HCC members.
These numbers reflect the Program’s deeply interactive and collaborative ethos.
To achieve the Program mission, our Specific Aims during the next CCSG funding period are to 1) Examine
the molecular underpinnings of melanoma, comprised of genomics, epigenomics, and metabolomics, with
the goal of leveraging the discoveries to optimize therapies for patients; 2) Investigate microenvironment
features that modulate melanoma treatment responses; and 3) Study external factors that influence
carcinogenic risk, behaviors relevant to melanoma-genesis, and treatment accessibility. To realize these
Aims, Program members will take advantage of CCSG collaborative, clinical trial, and educational/training
structures and exceptional core facilities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10768693
- **Project number:** 5P30CA006516-59
- **Recipient organization:** DANA-FARBER CANCER INST
- **Principal Investigator:** FRANK S HODI
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $40,758
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-03-10 → 2026-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10768693

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10768693, Program 35: Melanoma (5P30CA006516-59). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10768693. Licensed CC0.

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