Sage Bionetworks selected to establish new interdisciplinary research and training center

Sage Bionetworks has been selected by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Integrative Cancer Biology Program (ICBP) to establish a new interdisciplinary research and training center.

“Advanced predictive models of cancer, built through a network analysis of complex molecular and clinical datasets, are increasingly poised to inform drug development and clinical care decisions.”

"We are thrilled to receive the strong support from NCI and to join the other Centers for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB),” said Stephen Friend, Sage Bionetworks President. “We are particularly pleased that they share our view on the critical importance of training.”

The grant entitled “Integrating Cancer Datasets for Predictive Model Development and Training” will provide a baseline of $6.7m to support the Center’s operation and the training of four postdoctoral researchers each year.

Dr. Dan Gallahan, the Director of the NCI Integrative Cancer Biology Program said, “Sage Bionetworks’ training and research program as well as the developing Sage Commons platform bring a new dimension and I am excited to have their participation in the NCI ICBP centers program.”

“This prestigious grant is a wonderful endorsement for our young organization and validates our vision to establish a contributor-based integrative genomics and network biology resource to accelerate drug development,” Dr. Friend added. “Advanced predictive models of cancer, built through a network analysis of complex molecular and clinical datasets, are increasingly poised to inform drug development and clinical care decisions.”

Sage Bionetworks is a new nonprofit medical research organization established in 2009 to establish a novel research community Commons.

“Sage was established based on three themes; biomedical research, integrative genomics platform building and training. These three tenets establish a foundation for a Commons that will ultimately enable the sharing of large comprehensive datasets and models among scientists,” said Dr. Jonathan Derry, Sage’s Research Director and the Center’s administrative leader. “This new NCI Center represents the first component of our training mission.”

“Interdisciplinary bridges are essential for the development and use of genomic technologies. For this reason we have chosen to train paired mathematicians/physicists and biologist/clinicians so that they can cross-fertilize each other’s thinking.” Dr. Friend added. “Such interactions often form the spark of innovation.”

Prof. Bert Vogelstein, Director of the Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics & Therapeutics at Johns Hopkins University, commented, “We are delighted to be a part of this novel collaborative center and to provide our comprehensive cancer analysis data as part of the foundation for the Commons platform.” He added, “High throughput integrative genomics will strengthen our understanding of cancer and our ability to predict clinical outcomes based on molecular data.”

SOURCE Sage Bionetworks