# Cancer Genetics and Metabolism Research Program

> **NIH NIH P30** · WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2024 · $45,162

## Abstract

CANCER GENETICS AND METABOLISM (CGM) PROGRAM: PROJECT SUMMARY
Recent discoveries have uncovered an intimate interplay between genetics and metabolism in cancer. The
finding that isocitrate dehydrogenase mutations alter metabolism by producing an onco-metabolite that results
in changes of the epigenome and leads to cancer elegantly illustrates this dynamic. Targeting the mitochondrial
tricarboxylic acid cycle by inhibiting the ketoglutarate dehydrogenase and pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes
is another example. These advances have formed the scientific basis for the formation of a Cancer Genetics and
Metabolism (CGM) Program at the Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center (WFBCCC). The CGM
Program seeks to make significant impacts through highly collaborative and integrated projects to: (1)
characterize key genetic/epigenetic/metabolic events underlying tumor initiation and progression and response
to therapy in the major cancer types and key health disparities of the WFBCCC catchment area; (2) develop and
strengthen clinical trials targeting specific genetic defects and metabolic intervention points associated with
cancer; and (3) identify biomarkers to guide precision treatment. Although WFBCCC has had a strong emphasis
in cancer genetics and metabolism research for the past decade, the CGM Program was not formally organized
until 2018 in response to recommendations by the WFBCCC External Advisory Board. The CGM Program now
boasts 30 investigators and is co-led by two well-established scientists with distinct research expertise who have
collaboratively built a highly synergistic Program – Mikhail Nikiforov, PhD, a translational scientist pioneering
significant discoveries in understanding metabolic processes governing progression and drug resistance of
melanoma and multiple myeloma, and Timothy Pardee, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist with a track record in
elucidating the role of metabolism in resistance to therapies for acute myeloid leukemia. The CGM Program’s
total peer-reviewed, direct funding base is $4.4M. Although the CGM Program was formally established only in
2018, this highly collaborative group of investigators has authored since 2016 a total of 212 cancer-focused
research publications, of which 78 (37%) were intra-programmatic, 70 (33%) were inter-programmatic, and 154
(73%) represented inter-institutional collaborations. More than 37 (17%) of these publications involved seminal
discoveries and translational breakthroughs published in top-tier journals such as Cell, Cancer Cell, Lancet
Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Annals of Oncology, Cell Metabolism, Nature Communications, Nucleic
Acids Research, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Leukemia, and Clinical Cancer Research. In 2020, the CGM
Program conducted more than 82 clinical research studies, and even during the COVID-19 pandemic, a total of
235 patients were accrued to these studies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10813792
- **Project number:** 5P30CA012197-49
- **Recipient organization:** WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Boris Pasche
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $45,162
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-02-01 → 2027-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10813792

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10813792, Cancer Genetics and Metabolism Research Program (5P30CA012197-49). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10813792. Licensed CC0.

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