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Recognizing that developmental research funds are an integral part of the SPORE, we commit $175,000 per year to these endeavors. This represents a significant percent in the budget of the UMCCC Prostate SPORE and reflects the continued commitment of this program to the development of innovative translational research in prostate cancer. The focus of the Developmental Research Program is to provide investigators the ability to generate data that would become the preliminary data for an R01 grant application or an equivalent proposal. Investigators from outside the field of prostate cancer are encouraged to apply - through campus wide announcements as well as through personal interactions with the SPORE investigators.
We developed a stepwise proposal solicitation and review process for pilot projects utilizing a NIH-type PHS 398 format that has been streamlined for rapid turn around of research proposals and which recognizes that these projects may have little preliminary data. Investigators may apply for pilot project grants ($40,000 - $50,000 per year) or seed grants ($5,000 - $10,000 per year). Since 1995 we have funded 31 pilot projects and 45 seed grants for a total investment of $1,400,000. This has resulted in over $5 million in subsequent grants, 52 manuscripts, 34 abstracts and 2 non-peer reviewed papers.
Dr. Mark Day serve as Director for the Development Research Program. Dr. Mark Day is an Associate Professor of Urology, Co-Director of Basic Science Research in the Urology Department, and has published extensively in molecular and cell biology of prostate cancer. Dr. Day meets quarterly with project investigators to review progress. Project investigators also take part in the weekly and monthly SPORE meetings.
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