# Cancer Epigenetics and Nuclear Dynamics (CEND) Research Program

> **NIH NIH P30** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $54,294

## Abstract

ABSTRACT – CANCER EPIGENETICS AND NUCLEAR DYNAMICS
Cancer Epigenetics and Nuclear Dynamics (CEND) is a new basic science research program in the Robert H.
Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCC) that emerged after the re-organization of the basic science programs
in 2015. The goals of the CEND program are to understand how the nucleus is structurally organized and
functionally regulated in cancer cells as compared to non-transformed cells, and to accelerate translation of basic
discoveries in cancer epigenetics and gene regulation to develop new therapeutic and diagnostic applications.
With this focus, CEND brings together faculty from the former Cancer Cell Biology and Signal Transduction
Programs plus six new LCC members. These faculty have a broad range of expertise, and they use diverse
model systems, ranging from yeast, Drosophila and C. elegans to mouse models and primary human malignant
cells. The aims of CEND are to: 1. Understand how genome organization changes during tumorigenesis and
whether organizational changes contribute to tumor progression. 2. Understand how epigenetic regulation
changes during tumorigenesis. 3. Understand how non-coding RNAs affect tumorigenesis. 4. Understand the
relationship between transcription factors and cancer.
The Program is led by Richard Carthew, PhD, Professor of Molecular Biosciences at the College of Arts and
Sciences and Debabrata Chakravarti, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology at the Feinberg School of Medicine.
Both leaders have held program leadership positions in LCC prior to this latest funding cycle. CEND membership
comprises 29 faculty from 9 departments and 2 schools. Current cancer-relevant peer-reviewed direct funding
is $8,175,046, with $2,670,481 from NCI and $5,504,565 in funding from other NIH institutes and peer review
sources. There have been 375 cancer-relevant publications since last competing CCSG review. Of these, 17%
of publications arose from intra-programmatic collaborations, 39% arose from inter-programmatic collaborations,
and 64% arose from collaborations with other cancer centers. 114 (30%) were high impact (>9) publications.
Thus, CEND members effectively collaborate within and outside of the program. Another priority for CEND is to
promote interactions between program members and clinical/translational researchers in order to harness basic
discoveries to develop new therapeutic and diagnostic applications. CEND thus adds significant value to the
cancer center by providing a conceptually renewed and focused framework for promoting clinical translation of
basic discoveries.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9982872
- **Project number:** 5P30CA060553-26
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Richard W. CARTHEW
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $54,294
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9982872

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9982872, Cancer Epigenetics and Nuclear Dynamics (CEND) Research Program (5P30CA060553-26). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9982872. Licensed CC0.

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