BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Comprehensive Cancer Center, in collaboration with two other university partners, has won an $11.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to explore groundbreaking cervical cancer research, prevention and treatment.
The new Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in cervical cancer from NCI was awarded to Johns Hopkins University < http://www.jhu.edu/ > for their collaboration with researchers at UAB and the University of Colorado at Boulder < http://www.colorado.edu/ >.
"The SPORE grant is another significant milestone for research at UAB, and it says that NCI recognizes our ability to do great translational research," said UAB Cancer Center Director Edward Partridge, M.D. "Translational research means moving laboratory discoveries into the human condition, always after rigorous testing."
The grant will focus on next-generation human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines for the prevention of cervical cancer and test more therapeutic agents that have shown promise in preventing, slowing or effectively treating the disease. HPV is responsible for virtually all cases of cervical cancer. Three of the project's four experimental HPV vaccines will be tested at UAB, said Warner Huh, M.D., an associate scientist in the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center and cervical SPORE co-leader.
The partnership grant will fund these four primary projects:
In addition to these research projects, the SPORE grant includes a career-development program to recruit and train the next generation of cervical cancer researchers.
The NCI SPORE program started in 1992 as a way to promote interdisciplinary research and speed the transition of basic science findings to the clinical testing arena with the hope of reducing cancer-death rates and improving survival. The cervical cancer partnership project is the fifth SPORE UAB has been awarded in the program's history, an honor that puts the Cancer Center in an elite group of NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers that lead multiple specialized projects.
About the National Cancer Institute
NCI leads the National Cancer Program and the National Institutes of Health effort to dramatically reduce the burden of cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients and their families through research into prevention and cancer biology, the development of new interventions and the training and mentoring of new researchers.
About the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center
The UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center is among the 41 cancer centers in the nation to meet the stringent criteria for the National Cancer Institute's comprehensive designation. The center is a leader in groundbreaking research, reducing cancer disparities and leading-edge patient care.