# Project 1

> **NIH NIH U54** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $225,975

## Abstract

Abstract
African American (AA) men have a 1.5-fold higher incidence of prostate cancer (PCa) than non-Latino White
(WH) men and are 2.5 times more likely to die from the disease. The biological determinants of aggressive PCa
in AA men are still unclear and elucidating these remains a critical and unmet need in cancer health disparities
research. Work by our groups and others demonstrates that somatic genomic alterations, transcriptomic
signatures and immune tumor microenvironment (TME) components in PCa are significantly different in AA and
WH men, suggesting that molecular biomarkers of lethal disease may be different in these two populations.
Despite this progress, prognostic biomarkers developed specifically for AA PCa lack validation in independent
datasets due to the relative scarcity of well-annotated AA PCa cohorts. Here, in collaborative research between
Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and Howard University (HU), we will focus on genomic and epigenomic profiling
of metastatic PCa in AA men for the purpose of molecular biomarker discovery. Novel and established in situ
biomarker assays reflecting underlying tumor genomic and TME alterations will be tested in relation to PCa
outcomes and racial ancestry. In Aim 1 we will establish a unique cohort of locally metastatic prostate cancer
from AA men for genomic and epigenomic profiling to assess differences between primary and metastatic
disease. In Aim 2 we will perform genomic and epigenomic profiling of distant metastatic disease in AA men to
identify biomarkers of lethal disease. In Aim 3, we will validate in situ molecular biomarkers of tumor progression
in the joint JHU-HU PCa tissue cohorts. The work in this proposal will identify biomarkers of aggressive PCa
among AA patients so that we can begin to realize the promise of precision medicine in this population.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11012038
- **Project number:** 1U54CA295336-01
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Tamara Levin Lotan
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $225,975
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-20 → 2029-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11012038

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11012038, Project 1 (1U54CA295336-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11012038. Licensed CC0.

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