# Bioinformatics Analysis of Next Generation Sequencing Data from Cancer Cells

> **NIH NIH R50** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $229,792

## Abstract

Project Summary
This proposal is a renewal of a prior R50 grant that supported the bioinformatics needs of cancer
researchers at Northwestern University. The initial award primarily supported two NCI funded
Outstanding Investigators, Dr. Marcus Peter and Dr. Ali Shilatifard, with a small fraction of support for the
Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. Now, Dr. Bartom has become the Scientific Associate
Director for Bioinformatics for the Cancer Center, and she will support a broader array of research
programs for different cancer center members. The Unit Director for this proposal is Dr. Leon Platanias,
PI of the Cancer Center. A specific area of note will continue to be Dr. Marcus Peter’s investigations into
the role of 6mer seed toxicity in the body’s natural defenses against cancer, and how this mechanism
can be activated in order to improve outcomes for cancer patients. She will also continue to work with
colleagues within the Simpson Querrey Center for Epigenetics, including Dr. Ali Shilatifard, to understand
how genetic changes in the machinery of chromatin regulation can lead to epigenetic mutations and
defects in gene activation and transcriptional elongation. Research into the molecular dynamics in
primary human cell cultures infected with Kaposi’s Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus will continue with
Dr. Eva Gottwein, giving insight into how Kaposi’s Sarcomas arise in AIDS patients. All three of these
investigators are cancer center members, whose research is supported by the Cancer Center P30 grant.
The common thread in all of these projects is the need for careful, biologically motivated computational
analysis to make sense of next generation sequencing data that is essential in examining the function of
cells, both before and after cancer development and before and after pharmaceutical perturbation. Dr.
Bartom will provide this analysis, and her expertise in both biology and computation will allow cancer
biologists to extract more insight from their data, and to maintain a high standard of scientific rigor and
reproducibility.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10929455
- **Project number:** 5R50CA221848-07
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth Thomas Bartom
- **Activity code:** R50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $229,792
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-19 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10929455

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10929455, Bioinformatics Analysis of Next Generation Sequencing Data from Cancer Cells (5R50CA221848-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10929455. Licensed CC0.

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