# Cancer Cell Signaling Program

> **NIH NIH P30** · VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $71,905

## Abstract

CANCER CELL SIGNALING PROGRAM: PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT 
The Cancer Cell Signaling (CCS) program at the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center 
(MCC) consists of a multidisciplinary group of 22 investigators from 9 academic departments from the School 
of Medicine, the School of Dentistry, and the College of Humanities and Sciences who share a common 
interest in elucidating the cellular and molecular signaling events that are dysregulated during neoplastic 
transformation and progression and in developing methodologies to target these cancer-specific signaling 
events. CCS program members share the overarching scientific goals of: (1) examining the role of bioactive 
lipids in cancer cell signaling; (2) identifying key signaling networks of cell growth, cell death, apoptosis, ER 
stress, and autophagy that are perturbed in cancer cells; (3) understanding the interactions among 
metabolites, inflammation, bioenergetics, and the microenvironment that affect tumorigenesis. By achieving a 
greater understanding of cancer cell signaling, the initial goal of these themes is to identify potential therapeutic 
strategies and to move them into preclinical testing. The ultimate goal of these themes is to develop rational 
bases for combining interventions using these targets in a patient-specific, precision medicine manner and to 
translate them into more effective therapeutics. The CCS program has a funding base of $6 million in annual 
direct support, of which $5.5 million are funding of cancer-related projects from NIH and other peer-reviewed 
funding sources. The funding base includes 7 funded projects from NCI, with a total of $1.27 million in annual 
direct costs. The CCS program has a strong commitment to training. The CCS program develops and 
cultivates intra- and interprogrammatic interactions through regular meetings among the program membership, 
as well as focused discussion groups with overlapping research interests, monthly invited seminars, and an 
annual retreat. These approaches have led to numerous collaborations that yield novel approaches and 
collaborative grants as funding sources. The success of this broad, interdisciplinary approach to cancer 
research is evident from the track record of CCS program investigators, with 424 publications since 2011, of 
which 20% represent intraprogrammatic collaborations, 36% are interprogrammatic collaborations, and 16% 
represent to both intra- and interprogrammatic collaborations. Moreover, the CCS program has developed a 
number of initiatives that have progressed from basic laboratory studies to 9 phase I or II clinical trials.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9921318
- **Project number:** 5P30CA016059-39
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** ANDREW Charles LARNER
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $71,905
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9921318

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9921318, Cancer Cell Signaling Program (5P30CA016059-39). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-14 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9921318. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*