# Training Program in Signal Transduction and Cancer

> **NIH NIH T32** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $308,619

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This revised renewal application seeks continued support for the longstanding Training Program in Signal
Transduction and Cancer at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University.
Since 1997, the Training Program has recruited and trained four postdoctoral fellows per year in cancer signaling
through a curriculum of mentored laboratory research, seminars, symposia, coursework and professional
development sessions. The T32 is the only cancer signaling program in the Chicagoland area and has trained
more than sixty postdoctoral fellows, and has helped them to develop highly successful careers in academia and
industry. The Program is led by Drs. Platanias and Peter, both of whom have extensive mentoring expertise and
a well-documented commitment to postdoctoral training. With strong Institutional support, the T32 unites a team
of well-established senior and mid-career investigators and junior faculty, all of whom have robust national
funding to conduct research related to signaling and cancer using rigorous scientific principles and complete
transparency. The specific aims of the T32 renewal are 1) to recruit outstanding postdoctoral fellows, and expand
efforts to increase diversity of the program; 2) to provide postdoctoral fellows a curriculum that develops and
strengthens their research skills and enables them to become proficient in the field of signal transduction and
cancer; 3) to augment research with sessions on grant writing, publications and presentation and training in
computational skills and rigor and reproducibility; 4) to offer a full complement of professional development
activities; and 5) to help trainees achieve successful short and long term outcomes as measured by publications,
extramural grants and attainment of career objectives. In response to Program focus groups and surveys and
with input from the External Advisory Board, we have enhanced our Program curriculum with the following new
elements: a Signaling and Cancer Course, mandatory grant writing and mentor training for trainees. In addition,
preceptors will be trained in mentoring practices that promote the development of trainees from all backgrounds.
Altogether, graduates from this highly impactful Training Program will continue to emerge as the next generation
of cancer scientists, advancing translational research and improving the outcome of patients with cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10874564
- **Project number:** 5T32CA070085-27
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** LEONIDAS C. PLATANIAS
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $308,619
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-05-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10874564

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10874564, Training Program in Signal Transduction and Cancer (5T32CA070085-27). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10874564. Licensed CC0.

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