DEVELOPMENTAL FUNDS: PROJECT SUMMARY The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Massey Cancer Center (MCC) utilizes the Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) Developmental Funds to invest in initiatives that support the priorities and goals of the 2021-2025 Strategic Plan. This plan is informed by the evolving scientific expertise needed within the Center’s three research programs and the priorities articulated by the community, which identify the scientific questions related to cancers with the highest incidence, mortality, and disparate outcomes within MCC’s catchment area communities. During the new CCSG project period, the MCC requests $300,193 per year in Developmental Funds, representing 18% of the overall CCSG annual direct award. These Developmental Funds will be used to support two categorial areas: 1) Pilot Research Funding: $200,000 per year will be leveraged with other MCC philanthropic, state, and/or institutional funding to support innovative pilot research projects, which have been selected through a competitive review process; and 2) Recruitment of New Faculty Investigators: $100,193 per year will be combined with other MCC and VCU financial commitments to support start-up packages for new scientists strategically recruited to expand the Center’s research expertise and capabilities across cancer-related domains in basic, clinical, and population sciences.