NCI Cancer Information Service (CIS)
For nearly 45 years, NCI’s Cancer Information Service (CIS)  has been answering cancer-related questions with scientifically-based information and providing educational information about all aspects of cancer. CIS Information Specialists strive to provide personalized service that addresses each client’s unique information needs. The CIS is easily accessible; wait times are generally 30 seconds or less. Once connected with an Information Specialist, they will take whatever time is needed to understand and address each person’s concerns and questions.

More than ever, patients are turning to the Internet for information about cancer and treatment, and unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformation waiting for them. CIS is a reliable resource for cancer information that can help augment your care. Additionally, you or your patients can request a tailored clinical trial search when necessary.
 
For questions about how CIS can help support your patients’ information needs, please contact NCI’s CIS Branch Chief, Candace Maynard, at maynarc@mail.nih.gov.

NCI welcomes letters of interest for Branch Chief position in Tobacco Control Research Branch
The Behavioral Research Program (BRP) within the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences welcomes letters of interest from senior scientists to serve as Branch Chief of the Tobacco Control Research Branch (TCRB). For details click here. 

Funding Opportunity for Clinician Scientists
The NCI has made available a R50 mechanism to support Clinician Scientists “designed to encourage the development of stable research career opportunities for exceptional clinician scientists who want to continue to participate in the NCI clinical trials networks through leadership in the 1) development of national clinical trials, 2) implementation of NCI clinical trials in their institutions, and 3) national service to the NCI clinical trials networks through participation in the scientific review committees, monitoring committees and other activities, but not serve as principal investigators of research project grants. These clinician scientists are vital to sustaining the NCI-funded clinical trials enterprise. The Research Specialist Award is intended to provide salary support and sufficient autonomy so that individuals are not solely dependent on NCI grants held by others or other sources of support for cancer research career continuity.” These are renewable 5-year awards which can support 20-40% effort of the applicant. Approximately 26 awards will be made in 2022.

Applications are due to NCI in 2022 on the following dates: February 8th, June 7th, and October 6th. The Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium can put forward one applicant for this mechanism per application date. All interested candidates should send A) an NIH biosketch with Other Support and B) a one-page letter of interest to cancerconsortium@fredhutch.org by November 19th, 2021. One applicant will be selected for each of the 2022 application due dates via this process.

The one-page letter of interest should include:
•    Current efforts in clinical trials in both national and investigator-initiated trials
•    Service on trial-related committees or other activities to support the Consortium’s clinical trials 
      infrastructure
•    Contributions to the recruitment of underrepresented minorities and women to clinical trials
•    Confirmation that you meet the eligibility criteria per the R50 announcement

Questions can be directed to Wendy Law, Associate Director of Administration for the Consortium, at wlaw@fredhutch.org. 

The OCOE co-hosted the annual Latina Health Symposium with Latinos Promoting Good Health on Wednesday, September 22 via Zoom. This year’s presentations focused on information about COVID-19 treatment as well as information on how to support mental health during the pandemic. Over 70 people participated in the virtual event. If you missed the event, you can watch the presentation recordings on YouTube.

 

As the Office of Community Outreach & Engagement has pivoted from in person to virtual outreach and education, they have launched a monthly podcast series entitled, “Cancer Health Equity NOW”, hosted by Community Health Educator Danté Morehead. Since the last CCSG newsletter, they wrapped up Season 1 and have kicked of Season 2.    

Check these and other past episodes at:  https://cancerhealthequitynow.libsyn.com/.  

The OCOE partnered with the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board’s Northwest Tribal Comprehensive Cancer Project to propose a cancer control project entitled, “Indigenous Intergenerational Intervention to Address Cancer” in response to “Administrative Supplements for the NCI P30 Cancer Center Support Grants to extend partnerships with comprehensive cancer control coalitions to study implementation of evidence-based cancer control interventions.” The project has been funded and we will be working with tribes in Washington to address colorectal cancer screening awareness, mammography screening, and HPV vaccination. 

Targeting SARS-CoV2-Induced Cytokine Release

The paper ‘Machine learning identifies molecular regulators and therapeutics for targeting SARS-CoV2-induced cytokine release” was recently featured as the cover story of the September issue of Molecular Systems Biology. The reported findings were made possible with Fred Hutch support, including from the Immune Monitoring Core. Click here to learn more.

Comparative Medicine Updates
Updated Services

In July, Comparative Medicine integrated the Translational Research Model Services Core into their work family. Formerly known as the CCEH Specialized Mouse Services Core (Core E), this group has provided immune-deficient mice and expert technical services to Fred Hutch researchers for over 20 years.

We currently offer NSG, NRG, NSG-SGM3 and NBSGW mice, and access to a wide array of individual technical services, including, but not limited to:

• breeding colony maintenance,
• injections and implants through multiple routes,
• irradiation, both focal and total body irradiation,
• drug administration by injection or oral gavage,
• noninvasive bioluminescence and fluorescence optical imaging,
• generation of humanized mice (adult and neonates), and
• sample collection.

For all questions and assistance using this resource please contact the Core Director, Dr. Maura Parker at mparker@fredhutch.org or 206-667-1623.

Updated Vet Staff Communications
To make it easier to track correspondence regarding cases in the small animal facility, vet staff will begin using a new shared email. This will allow all staff to access correspondence, which is helpful when one staff member initially assesses a case and a different staff member follows up later.

Starting this month, when investigators are contacted about open vet cases, they’ll see the address mousemedic@fredhutch.org copied to the email. Please ensure this address is cc'd on replies. As we intend to use this address specifically for ongoing medical cases, please do not use this address for requests such as shipping, Bup-SR, training requests, etc. – these requests should continue to go to rodentservices@fredhutch.org.
 
User Surveys

• The Preclinical Imaging core would like to gauge your interest in a potential Image Analysis Support Group! Please fill out this survey if you use any type of Image Analysis for your research. The survey should take no more than four minutes to complete, and your participation will be very helpful in guiding our next steps.
• Comparative Medicine is requesting input from researchers on their needs for clinical pathology services. Please complete the Hematology Services Survey to help us better assess our users' needs for hematology and chemistry analysis. 

New Equipment Available Through Translational BioImaging Core
Radiology Optical Imaging Core Expands to include ARCF
Radiology Optical Imaging Core (ROIC) has recently acquired a new PerkinElmer IVIS Spectrum. The ROIC now has IVIS Spectrums at both the SLU and ARCF vivariums. These preclinical in vivo optical (fluorescent and bioluminescent) imaging systems can be used for a number of applications such as cancer, immunology, infectious disease, and drug development. Additionally, both facilities have access to quantitative 3D tools for automated biodistribution analysis and 3D visualization. 

Please contact Dr. Neal Paragas if you are interested in learning more about preclinical optical image and/or would like to access to the IVIS Spectrum for your studies.

FROM CLINICAL RESEARCH SUPPORT
 

New PI Orientation and Education Program
As part of its ongoing mission to support oncology clinical research that is conducted with the highest standards and to assist our Research Groups with new faculty onboarding, the Consortium is introducing a new PI Orientation and Education Program. This will be required as of October 1, 2021 for new faculty prior to being delegated study responsibilities and will take approximately 10 hours. Current faculty are welcome to access the courses electively to refine their knowledge and skills.
 
Designed specifically for new Consortium faculty who will participate in and/or conduct interventional trials, this program aims to:

The Consortium PI Orientation and Education Program provides an overview of relevant training, policies, and resources, a targeted core clinical research training curriculum, and ongoing support following orientation and training. We’ll be reaching out directly as new faculty are onboarded by SCCA Human Resources.

If you have any questions or have new faculty that would benefit from this program, please reach out to CSCTraining@fredhutch.org.

Research Group Review Information Summary for SRC Form
The latest version of the Research Group Review Information Summary for SRC Form is available on CancerConsortium.org. Please use this form for all Research Group Reviews that occur on 9/24/2021 or later. This completed form is required for all Initial Review submissions made to the Scientific Review Committee.

FRED HUTCH/UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON CANCER CONSORTIUM
1100 FAIRVIEW AVE. N., SEATTLE, WA 98109
cancerconsortium.org

Award Number P30 CA015704

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