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INFORMATION FOR

Developmental Research Program

The Program

Purpose: To provide seed money to investigators to support studies with a strong translational component that have the potential to evolve into, or be incorporated into, a full Yale SPORE in Lung Cancer project. Projects of more limited scope (e.g., for smaller amounts and/or for shorter periods of time) will be at no competitive disadvantage in the review process. Projects with multi-disciplinary collaborations and promising translational research potential will get favorable scores in review. The purpose is also to generate preliminary data or evidence of collaboration for new NCI grant applications.

Award Amounts: Up to $50,000

Eligibility: Open to investigators who hold a faculty appointment at an academic institution who can be described by one of the following categories:

a) established investigators in lung cancer who wish to test an innovative, translationally-relevant idea not funded by current or pending grants/funds;

b) junior investigators holding a faculty appointment proposing innovative research in the arena of translational thoracic oncology that require preliminary data to apply for an R01 or equivalent research support;

c) independent investigators with a previous and/or current R01 or equivalent funding whose research to date has not been specifically directed at lung cancer, or even at cancer more generally, but who are interested in exploring the applicability of their particular expertise to lung cancer.

Women and minority investigators are strongly encouraged to apply.

Requirements: If a grant is awarded, the PI and mentors must agree to abide by the Grant Guidelines (page 4) and to participate in the DRP/CEP Symposium to be held at Yale in May 2024 (tentative date).

Application Timeline:

Letters of Intent are due: Friday April 21, 2023

Full applications are due: Friday June 30, 2023

LOIs and full applications should be submitted at https://yale.infoready4.com

Download applications here>>


Joint Developmental Research Program- Cancer Disparities Yale SPORE in Lung Cancer & Yale Head and Neck SPORE

Provide support of up to $50,000 for a translational pilot project focused on disparities-related cancer research in the field of Head and Neck and/or Lung cancer. Despite major progress in reducing cancer deaths and cancer incidence in the United States of America, health disparities exist across the country. Research in cancer disparities studies the differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of cancer and related adverse health conditions that exist among specific population groups in the U.S. These include American Indians / Alaskan Natives, Asian Americans, Black/African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, sexual and gender minorities, socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, and underserved rural populations.

Award Amounts: Up to $50,000

Purpose: To provide seed money to investigators to support studies with a strong translational or clinical component that have the potential to evolve into, or be incorporated into, a full Yale SPORE project in either the Yale SPORE in Lung Cancer (YSILC) or Yale Head and Neck SPORE (YHN-SPORE). Projects with multi-disciplinary collaborations and community-based participatory research studies are encouraged.

Eligibility: Open to investigators who hold a faculty appointment at an academic institution who fall into one of the following categories:

1. Established investigators in lung or head and neck cancer who wish to address a translational question - not funded by current or pending grants/funds - related to cancer health disparities.

2. Junior investigators holding a faculty appointment proposing innovative research in the arena of cancer health disparities that require preliminary data to apply for an R01 or equivalent research support.

3. Independent investigators with a previous and/or current R01 or equivalent funding whose research to date has not been specifically directed at lung or head and neck cancer, or even at cancer more generally, but who are interested in exploring the applicability of their particular expertise to these cancer types in a translational cancer health disparities related project.

Women and minority investigators are strongly encouraged to apply. We encourage you to submit your letter of intent (LOI) to anna.arnal@yale.edu LOI will be reviewed and eligible applicants will be invited to submit a full application online at: https://yale.infoready4.com/

Previous Developmental Research Awardees

2022 Developmental Research Awardees
  • Implementation of deep learning derived imaging based biomarkers for Non-Small Lung Cancer (Sanjay Aneja)
  • Characterization of limited-stage small cell lung cancer: potential prognostic and therapeutic implications (Guoping Cai)
  • Investigating the role of lncRNAs in modulating immune responses in lung adenocarcinoma (Nadya Dimitrova)
  • Understanding and targeting altered RNA splicing in treatment-resistant lung tumors (Luisa Escobar-Hoyos)
  • Development of liquid biopsy for the diagnosis of radiation necrosis in lung cancer patients through single-cell analysis of brain lesions (Stephanie Robert, Veronica Chiang)
2021 Developmental Research Awardees
  • Exploring defects in MHC I antigen presentation in SCLC with acquired resistance to immunotherapy. (Anne Chiang, Katerina Politi)
  • Development of liquid biopsy for the diagnosis of radiation necrosis in lung cancer patients through single-cell analysis of brain lesions. (Veronica Chiang, Don Nguyen, Stephanie Robert)
  • Deriving Imaging Based Biomarkers for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer using Deep Learning (Sanjay Aneja)

2020 Developmental Research Awardees
  • Combined AURKA and WEE1 targeting inhibits a druggable effector pathway in KRAS mutant lung carcinoma (Barbara Burtness)
  • Exploring defects in MHC I antigen presentation in SCLC with acquired resistance to immunotherapy (Anne Chiang, Katerina Politi)
  • Investigating T and B cell responses against lung cancer in genetically-engineered animal models (Nikhil Joshi, Joseph Craft)
  • Target validation and proof-of-concept for MERTK inhibition in preclinical models of lung cancer (Carla Rothlin, Sourav Ghosh)
  • Probing the Role of the Supermutator, APOBEC3B, in Lung Cancer (Jeff Townsend, Karen Anderson)
2019 Developmental Research Awardees
2018 Developmental Research Awardees
  • Advanced Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Detection of Subclinical and Clinical Cardio-Toxicity Associated with Inhibition of the Programmed Cell Death Protein-1 Pathway in the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (Lauren Baldassarre, MD)
  • Immune composition and genomic landscape of non-small cell lung cancer from HIV-infected subjects (Brinda Emu, MD)
  • Profiling functional antibody responses to checkpoint immunotherapy in lung cancer (Aaron Ring, MD, PhD)
  • Development of TLK2 kinase inhibitors to treat KRAS-driven lung cancer (David Calderwood, PhD)
  • A novel epigenetic mechanism in lung cancer resistance (Andrew Xiao, PhD)
2017 Developmental Research Awardees
  • Synthesis of novel OST inhibitors for the treatment of NSCLC (Joseph Contessa)
  • Cas9 screen for identification of novel lung cancer co-therapies (Richard A. Flavell)
  • Development of novel treatments for immunotherapy refractory lung cancer (J. Peter Koo)
2016 Developmental Research Awardees
  • Targeted degradation of tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistant epidermal growth factor receptor mutants in lung cancer (Craig Crews)
  • Herpes viruses in lung cancer (Charles Dela Cruz)
  • Genetic factors contributing to lung cancer in the pediatric population (Xiaomei Ma, Andrew DeWan)
  • Uncovering mechanisms of osimertinib resistance in metastasis from lung adenocarcinoma (Don Nguyen)

2016 Lung SPORE/ Beatrice Kleinberg Neuwirth Fund for Pancreatic and Lung Cancer Research Awardees

  • Enumeration and Characterization of Neoantigen-specific T cells in NSCLC patients undergoing immunotherapy (Susan Kaech, Paula Kavathas)
  • Probing epigenetic vulnerability of KRAS-mutant lung cancers using functional genomics (Narendra Wajapeyee)
2015 Developmental Research Awardees
  • Effective TCR for CAR-T treatment of lung cancer (Richard Flavell)
  • Identification of neoantigens for identifying and tracking tumor specific T cells (Susan Kaech, Paula Kavathas)
  • The extracellular matrix as a companion therapeutic target in metastatic lung cancer (Don Nguyen)
  • Non-invasive monitoring of mutations in lung cancer via circulating tumor DNA (Abhijit Patel)

Directors