DEVELOPMENTAL FUNDS: ABSTRACT Developmental funds from a variety of sources (e.g., CCSG, other sponsored research, institution, state, philanthropy, etc.) enable the Stephenson Cancer Center (SCC) to pursue new research innovation and collaboration. They help advance the SCC’s overall mission and strategic goals as well as provide support for program leaders to achieve targeted scientific goals. Essential activities supported by developmental funds include: intramural grant programs, recruitment of new investigators, career development for early-stage investigators, and new shared resource development. These help advance the SCC’s core strategic priorities: 1) enhancing breadth, depth and impact of cancer-focused research; 2) fostering the translation of discoveries into the clinical or community setting; 3) designing and conducting hypothesis-driven trials to improve outcomes for people with or at risk for cancer; 4) promoting intra- and inter-programmatic collaboration and transdisciplinary team science; 5) enhancing COE to address priority cancers and cancer problems prevalent in the SCC catchment area; 6) increasing training and mentorship opportunities for students and faculty; and 7) enhancing the presence of underrepresented minority (URM) persons and women among SCC leadership and membership, and in pipeline programs. All decisions concerning the allocation of developmental funds ultimately rest with the SCC director, who meets with the center’s research leadership team biweekly to discuss new research opportunities and allocation of developmental funds in the form of intramural grants, recruitment, investments in new technologies, and targeted funding to pursue new strategically driven initiatives. The SCC has utilized developmental funds awarded through intramural grant programs to stimulate new research, enhance transdisciplinary collaboration, support career development, and address priority cancers and cancer problems prevalent in the SCC catchment area. During the reporting period (CY2017-21), the SCC awarded 85 intramural grants through a variety of programs, with a total award amount of $3,053,349. As of 12/31/21, these grants have resulted in 71 peer-reviewed publications and $10,246,254 (total, direct cost) in extramural sponsored research funding. Notably, 21 of these 85 were awarded through grant programs newly established since 2020; thus, they are just completing first funding cycles and are still pending outcomes. In addition, developmental funds have been used to recruit 31 new cancer-focused investigators to the SCC (both the OUHSC and OU Norman campuses) over the past five years, significantly enhancing transdisciplinary expertise and the potential for team science among the SCC’s three programs. Notably, five (16%) of these new recruits are URM individuals and more than half (n=16) are female.