# Developmental Funds

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2024 · $1,473,039

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY – Developmental Funds
During the current project period, the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) used Developmental Funds to support
innovative new research through a robust Pilot Project Program, to support our Staff Investigators, to support
our Developing Shared Resources, and to support new and talented faculty recruits. These funds stimulated
research in areas of strategic importance to the ACC. This support is essential to the ACC's ability to execute
its responsibilities in stimulating transdisciplinary and translational research and to encourage research in
areas of priority to both the ACC and the NCI. Pilot awards are issued based on a long-standing, well-
established peer-review process involving senior and junior ACC members from multiple Programs,
departments, and disciplines. This process is similar to the peer-review process used by the NCI. During the
current project period plus the last two years of the previous project period, 34 pilot projects were awarded.
Fifteen new externally funded grants were awarded to pilot recipients (totaling $14.3M in direct costs) and
another three external grants are pending review. Additionally, this work was disseminated to peers through 31
manuscripts in high-impact journals including Nature, Nature Medicine, JAMA, Cancer Discovery, and J Clin
Onc. Other noteworthy outcomes from our pilots include performance of nine interventional clinical trials and
launching of a Translational Center of Excellence in Cardio-Oncology and the Population Science Center of
Excellence in lung cancer screening. Developmental Funds during the current cycle supported three Staff
Investigators and two Developing Shared Resources (one in Circulating Tumor Material and one in Cancer
Metabolism). Both Developing Shared Resources supported multiple high-impact publications (including
papers in Nature, Cell, JCI, and PNAS), and services are now incorporated into full Shared Resources in this
renewal application. Finally, Developmental Funds were used to aid in the recruitment of three talented faculty
members (Dr. Kathrin Bernt, Pediatric Oncology; Dr. Kara Maxwell, Cancer Control; and Dr. Robert Maki, who
arrived at Penn in 2020). In the coming cycle, we are requesting Developmental Funds to continue our Pilot
Project Program, to provide support for two Staff Investigators, and to continue our recruitment of faculty-level
scientists in areas of strategic need.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10773032
- **Project number:** 5P30CA016520-48
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Susan M Domchek
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,473,039
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-01-15 → 2025-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10773032

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10773032, Developmental Funds (5P30CA016520-48). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10773032. Licensed CC0.

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