Sanford wins $11.7 million NIH grant to translate laboratory cancer research into clinical trials

The Cancer Biology Research Center at Sanford Research is the recipient of a five-year, nearly $11.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to translate laboratory research into clinical trials for head and neck and pediatric cancers.

The grant was awarded as part of the NIH's Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence, or CoBRE, which supports activity that enhances institutional research capacity. CoBRE also awarded the Cancer Biology Research Center at Sanford Research a nearly $11.5 million grant in 2011 to develop a group of basic science and translational cancer researchers. The most recent award represents Phase II of the project.

"Our hope is that this latest NIH grant allows us to improve cancer care for this region," said Keith Miskimins, Ph.D., who is the project's principal investigator and director of the Cancer Biology Research Center at Sanford Research. "A grant this large positions the participating scientists well for long-term sustainability in the research world."

Four research projects and two core laboratories highlight the grant.

The following researchers and projects will receive funding:
• Paola Vermeer, Ph.D., will study how immune cell interactions affect metastasis of cancer tumors and potential immunotherapy options based on biomarkers;
• W. Chad Spanos, M.D., will look at ways to optimize the immune system's response to head and neck cancer caused by human papilloma virus;
• Steven Powell, M.D., will explore if an immunotherapy drug, pembrolizumab, can help fight head and neck cancer;
• Samuel Milanovich, M.D., will study the genetic mutations that might be associated with leukemia.

Existing core laboratories led by Kristi Egland, Ph.D., and Alexi Savinov, M.D., Ph.D., will continue to support CoBRE projects. Egland's Molecular Pathology Core will provide histology and pathology expertise, while Savinov's Flow Cytometry Core will perform cell phenotyping and characterization and cell sorting and separation protocols. Both laboratories were established in 2011 as part of Phase I.

"Basic research is important because it leads to discoveries that might someday be translated to patients," said David Pearce, Ph.D., executive vice president of Sanford Research. "Phase II of CoBRE marks a milestone because the findings could soon have real application to cancer patients. The strength of Sanford's programs in head and neck cancer and pediatric cancer were a differentiator for our organization."