# Tumor Microenvironment-TME CoBRE

> **NIH NIH P20** · WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $2,193,149

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The efforts described in this second phase CoBRE application will support the Center of Excellence within
the West Virginia University Health Sciences Center (WVU HSC) that focuses on studies of the tumor
microenvironment (TME), designated the TME CoBRE. The overarching critical need for continued emphasis
in this area is driven, in part, by that fact that cancer mortality is a significant health disparity in the
Appalachian region, specifically in West Virginia. We are building on a successful Phase I, where we had two
graduates with R01s, a major national foundation grant, a NSF grant, an R21 and our cores were awarded
two S10 awards. In total we had 11 Project Leader (PL) awards as PI, and 8 as a Co-I. The Center has grown
to over 20 faculty, including a number of faculty who are potential PLs, with their teams publishing over 140
papers since initiation of Phase I. Laboratories supported, in part, by the Phase I TME CoBRE, have engaged
in the training of ~60 students further amplifying the impact of the NIGMS investment on workforce
development in parallel to CoBRE PL success. Herein, we provide details for the strategy to continue to
develop careers of promising junior scientists and recruit additional investigators to study the biology of, and
novel therapeutic approaches that will benefit from, a mechanistic understanding of the diverse TME. The
five highly translational projects in Phase II focus on the microenvironment of different tumor types, including
cancers initiating in the bone marrow, gastric system, breast, and brain. The administrative core will manage
the overall budget and provide assistance in annual reporting and submission of extramural applications of
all CoBRE Project Leaders. In addition, this core will provide oversight of mentoring, which includes two
primary advisors for each investigator as well as an external advisor, and a network of previous CoBRE
graduates and the Director of Core Resources. The investigators will be supported by two research cores
that leverage past and current CoBRE and IDeA support. Single cell analysis capability in the existing flow
cytometry core will aid to it investigations into genomics of single cells. The Imaging Core will support PLs
with cutting edge technologies including microbeam irradiation, microCT, pre-clinical MRI, and real time
microenvironment imaging of pO2 and pH. Lastly, we will continue to administer a pilot project program to
recruit new junior faculty to the TME CoBRE, as we saw five of six pilot grant awardees eventually become
PLs, and we currently have a robust number of junior investigators (#5) may become PLs as well. The
investigators are well integrated into established programmatic areas in the West Virginia University Cancer
Institute that meet every other month for focused discussion on therapies that leverage, and the biology of,
the TME. The mentoring atmosphere, core facilities, and significant institutional support that are centr...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10916353
- **Project number:** 5P20GM121322-07
- **Recipient organization:** WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Paul R Lockman
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $2,193,149
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10916353

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10916353, Tumor Microenvironment-TME CoBRE (5P20GM121322-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-29 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10916353. Licensed CC0.

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