SUMMARY – DEVELOPMENTAL FUNDS Developmental Funds (DEVFUNDs) have been essential in contributing to the Salk Cancer Center’s (SCC) ability to achieve strategic and programmatic priorities in support of the Center’s vision. Historically, SCC has been highly successful in using Developmental Funds to advance SCC goals, and these funds have yielded significant return on investment in key areas. DEVFUNDs are used for two critical purposes, faculty recruitment and pilot awards. In the current grant period, DEVFUNDs have been used to support the recruitment of three exceptional new faculty and to support twelve SCC Pilot Awards. These efforts have infused the SCC with new, cutting-edge research expertise and capabilities, accelerate innovative, and promoted collaborative research. To maintain this momentum, in the upcoming grant period the SCC requests Developmental Funds for transformative faculty recruitments and developmental pilot awards to advance key priorities outlined in the new SCC Strategic Plan. These funds, coupled with substantial institutional investments, will accelerate SCC’s impact in our community, our region, and the nation. SCC Pilot Awards fund innovative and high-quality basic and translational research projects that have potential for creating new avenues of research and new collaborative efforts. Emphases are placed on supporting: 1) collaborative projects, 2) early-stage investigators, and 3) translational research. Importantly, SCC members have a strong track record of converting the preliminary data generated from SCC Pilot Awards into external funding, including multi-PI awards. The SCC will issue an annual solicitation for pilot project applications based on identified needs from EAB and membership feedback. Faculty recruitment adds promising and productive scientists to the SCC and is key to growing and strengthening the SCC Research Programs in key domains outline in the Strategic Plan. In the upcoming period, recruitment efforts will be focused on faculty with expertise and proven track records in: 1) tumor heterogeneity and tumor evolution, 2) computational biology approaches to cancer initiation, progression, and/or drug resistance, and 3) a physician- scientist with a track record in cancer cell therapy. A sharp focus will be maintained on recruiting diverse faculty. Impact: DEVFUNDs add significant value to SCC research endeavors. During the current funding period, DEVFUNDs were augmented by substantial institutional investments ($55.7M) to recruit new high-impact faculty members, to support collaborative research (both within and between Research Programs), and to promote translational efforts via collaborations with external clinicians. CCSG funds invested in faculty recruits ($483K) and Pilot Awards ($910K) led to $26.2M ($10.0M and $16.0M, respectively) in external cancer-related total funding, which represents an overall 19-fold return on total investment. Based on past and current successes, Developmental Funds...