# Tobacco and Environmental Carcinogenesis Research Program

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $77,524

## Abstract

Project Summary 
The Tobacco and Environmental Carcinogenesis Program, which received “Outstanding” merit in its first 
CCSG submission in 2010, assembles researchers committed to elucidating how exposures to tobacco and 
environmental carcinogens cause cancer and how these exposures can be mitigated by risk reduction, 
intervention, and communication strategies. Exposure to carcinogens represents a major cause of human 
cancers yet individuals who have the same exposures do not all get cancer in the end-organ. This suggests 
that significant inter-individual differences exist in cancer susceptibility. Understanding the basis of these 
differences can lead to precision risk reduction, which represents the translational impact of the Program. The 
foci of the Program is tobacco related cancers (e.g., lung) and asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, with a 
developing effort in UV/light exposure and melanoma. Each area provides rich opportunities for inter- 
Programmatic research. The Program owes its translational and transdisciplinary vision to Co-Leaders Drs. 
Robert Schnoll, a leader in tobacco control, and Trevor Penning, an expert in environmental carcinogenesis. 
The scientific aims of the Program are to: 1) Elucidate the pathways underlying exposure risk (e.g., risk factors 
for tobacco dependence; environmental exposures and risk for mesothelioma and melanoma); 2) Identify the 
mechanisms linking exposure to disease (e.g., steps in multi-stage carcinogenesis); 3) Evaluate methods for 
exposure and risk reduction (e.g., tobacco cessation treatments; asbestos remediation; UV light protection); 
and 4) Test methods of risk communication (e.g., tobacco marketing, regulatory science). Program members 
collaborate extensively, particularly with the Cancer Control and Cancer Therapeutics Programs, on studies of 
tobacco use, health communication, and smoking cessation, with the Cancer Therapeutics and Immunobiology 
Programs on investigations in thoracic oncology and immunotherapies, and with the Melanoma and Cutaneous 
Malignancies Program on UV/light issues. Seminal contributions during the project period include validating the 
first genetically-informed biomarker for personalized smoking cessation treatment and identifying novel 
mechanisms by which multi-organ carcinogens (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) in tobacco smoke and 
the environment are metabolically activated. The intra- and inter-Programmatic environment is facilitated by 
active mentoring, symposia, working groups, and pilot grants. The 15 members, who are from five departments 
and two schools, have $5.9M in external funding (annual direct costs); $5.8M is peer-reviewed and $2.6M is 
NCI-funded. Collaborative grants include an NCI P50 Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science (with Cancer 
Control), a P30 Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET; with Cancer Control), a 
Pharmacogenomics Research Network U01 (with Cancer Control), and an NIH P42 Superfund Research ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9836837
- **Project number:** 5P30CA016520-44
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert Adam Schnoll
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $77,524
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9836837

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9836837, Tobacco and Environmental Carcinogenesis Research Program (5P30CA016520-44). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9836837. Licensed CC0.

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