NOVEMBER 2024
 
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

  • From the Cancer Consortium
  • Leadership Update: Please Welcome Dr. Eric Collisson as the New Co-Leader of the Cancer Basic Biology Program!
  • Consortium Kudos
  • In the Spotlight
  • Current Funding Opportunities
  • Save the Date - Upcoming Events
  • From the Research Development Office
  • From the Office of Community Outreach & Engagement
  • From the NCI
  • From the Consortium Shared Resources
 

FROM THE CANCER CONSORTIUM

Please Welcome Dr. Eric Collissson as Co-Leader of the Cancer Basic Biology Program!
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Eric Collisson has accepted a position as co-leader of the Cancer Basic Biology program! Dr. Collisson will be replacing Dr. Jon Cooper, who is stepping down after many long years of service.

Dr. Collisson is a medical oncologist whose research focuses on cancer genomics. As a provider, he specializes in treating gastrointestinal cancers. He has a keen interest in translational oncology and precision medicine, and also serves as the Director of Translational Integration for the Stuart and Molly Sloan Precision Oncology Institute.
"It is a great honor to co-lead the CBB program," said Dr. Collisson. "I am lucky to be inheriting the role at a good time, with the program in such good standing. There’s so much terrific science in this program that it is an embarrassment of riches explaining how CCB fits into the larger CCSG thrust, collaborates to make breakthroughs, and disseminates their findings to the public. I look forward to meeting CCB members and learning what they do and how we can all better work together."

Please join us in thanking Dr. Cooper for his many years of hard work in service of the Consortium, and in welcoming Dr. Collisson to his new leadership role!

Consortium Kudos

Dr. David Baker Awarded the Nobel Prize
A HUGE congratulations to Dr. David Baker, who was recently awarded the Nobel Prize for his pioneering work in computational protein design!

Dr. Baker’s research focuses on the prediction and design of protein structures and functions. His lab has led the development of a protein design software that has opened up new possibilities for vaccine development, drug delivery, cancer therapy, and more. Recently, he and other scientists have created AI tools for this work that outperform prior methods by orders of magnitude.
“We’ve entered a new era in which biological functions can be designed rather than discovered. This will lead to more effective and accessible medicines, climate solutions, and more,” said Dr. Baker. “I’m honored by this prize but even more excited about the science that’s still to come!”

Dr. Baker is a professor, the Director of Institute for Protein Design, and an HHMI investigator at UW Medicine. He is a member of the Consortium’s Cancer Basic Biology program.
Consortium Researchers Receive CCSG Supplements
We are pleased to announce that the following Consortium researchers were recently awarded CCSG supplements to advance their work:

  • Dr. Sarah Leary (SC) and collaborators received a Childhood Cancer Data Initiative (CCDI) supplement for their project, "Pilot study to link clinical and imaging data from the electronic medical record (EMR), Children's Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) and the Molecular Characterization Initiative (MCI)." Dr. Leary is a member of the Consortium's Cancer Basic Biology program.
  • Dr. Allison Cole (UW) received a Survivorship supplement for her project, "CCSG Supplement: Assessing Facilitators and Barriers to Implementation of the National Survivorship Care Standards in Rural Health Systems." Dr. Cole is a member of the Consortium's Cancer Epidemiology, Prevention & Control program.
  • Drs. Warren Phipps (FH), Hootie Warren (FH), and collaborators received an HIV Biospecimen supplement for their project, "Identifying Mechanisms of Treatment Resistance and Response in Kaposi Sarcoma (Biospecimen/Cohort)." Drs. Phipps and Warren are both members of the Consortium's Pathogen Associated Malignancies program.
  • Drs. Bill Grady (FH), Amanda Phipps (UW), and collaborators received an Exposure supplement for their project, "Contemporary Modifiable Exposures and Cancer Across the Cancer Control Continuum." Drs. Grady and Phipps are both members of the Consortium's Cancer Epidemiology, Prevention & Control program.
  • Drs. Chris Li (FH) and Vida Henderson (FH) received a Training Navigation supplement for their project, "Fred Hutch/UW/Seattle Children's Training Navigation Supplement." Drs. Li and Henderson are both members of the Consortium's Cancer Epidemiology, Prevention & Control program.
Please join us in congratulating these investigators!
Consortium Members Receive Sloan Precision Oncology Awards
Earlier this year, the Stuart and Molly Sloan Precision Oncology Institute invited investigators at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, University of Washington, and Seattle Children’s Research Institute to submit innovative, forward-thinking proposals centered on Precision Oncology that address a research hypothesis (Ignition Award) or that focus on disseminating novel technologies to the research community (Technology Dissemination Award). This funding will support projects which represent a diverse range of research to advance precision oncology and are led by investigators at Consortium institutions.

Ignition Awards: igniting more precise diagnoses and treatment strategies
  • Dr. Sanjay Srivatsan (FH): Dr. Srivatsan’s funded project will focus on developing a new platform to investigate the single cell whole genome and transcriptome of pediatric patients with acute leukemia. With this detailed data set, Dr. Srivatsan intends to utilize a novel statistical framework called “genomic velocity,” which looks at mutations shared between cells, to estimate the rate of change of each given clone in a sample. Collectively, this will create a longitudinal clinical profile for leukemia patients that is more comprehensive and will inform the clinical decision-making process. Dr. Srivatsan is a member of the Consortium's Cancer Basic Biology program.
  •  Dr. Savannah Partridge (UW) and co-investigator Dr. Anum Kazerouni: Dr. Partridge’s project aims to utilize quantitative imaging and a novel radiomics approach to better characterize tumor microenvironment heterogeneity in HER2+ breast cancer to predict treatment response and long-term outcomes. With this two-pronged approach, Dr. Partridge intends to identify intrinsic imaging phenotypes that are predictive of a treatment outcome and give providers a better set of tools to assess disease recurrence and develop personalized treatment strategies. Dr. Partridge is a member of the Consortium's Breast & Ovary Cancers program.
  • Dr. Elizabeth Swisher (UW) and collaborator Dr. Eric Konnick: PARP inhibitors are standard treatment for ovarian cancers with a BRCA mutation and Dr. Swisher’s new assay is designed to identify additional cancer characteristics for patients that might benefit from this treatment. The goal is to have this assay ready for clinical testing, and to obtain a Washington State license for medical diagnostics, so that the genomic makeup of patient tumors can be accurately determined to receive appropriate life-changing therapy. Dr. Swisher is a co-leader of the Consortium’s Breast & Ovary Cancers program, and also serves as one of the Consortium’s deputy directors.
Technology Dissemination Awards: scaling precision oncology methods and reducing costs
  • Dr. Liangcai Gu (UW): Spatial transcriptomics is a new sequencing method that enables the 3D mapping of gene expression in the tumor microenvironment. By utilizing an assay with sub-micron resolution, Dr. Gu plans to investigate tumor resistance mechanisms, discover new biomarkers and inform novel therapeutic strategies. With unparalleled single cell resolution and a new gel fabrication method to increase resolution, this methodology can reduce costs by approximately 50-fold, enabling broader use and application when investigating lung adenocarcinoma or prostate cancer tissues. This technology will then be disseminated to other labs within the Hutch, locally, and nationally. Dr. Gu is a member of the Consortium's Cancer Basic Biology program.
  • Dr. Steven Henikoff (FH) and co-investigator Dr. Ronald Paranal: For precision oncology to scale to meet the demands of personalized therapies, processing costs for FFPE tissues must come down so that sequencing at greater depths is more affordable. Dr. Henikoff’s proposal aims to extend and automate their FFPE-CUTAC method for mapping the active DNA regulome by combining it with their AutoCUT&Tag protocol. With these two methods, the goal is to drive down sequencing costs and make precision oncology more affordable by making the cost of a sample <$100 at scale. Dissemination of the technology will occur through collaborations with Fred Hutch faculty and through the Cancer Consortium Genomics & Bioinformatics Shared Resource. Dr. Henikoff is a member of the Consortium's Cancer Basic Biology program
Please join us in congratulating these investigators!

For more information about the Sloan Institute and the Ignition and Technology Dissemination Awards, click here. 
Consortium Members Join the 2024-2025 Faculty Leadership Academy Cohort
The Faculty Leadership Academy is a nine-month mentorship program designed for faculty within the Fred Hutch/University of Washington/Seattle Children's Cancer Consortium who are interested in further developing their leadership skills. The overarching goal of this program is to support the development of the next generation of Consortium leaders, and to advance the goal set forward by the National Cancer Institute, which is to have the diversity of the leadership of the nation's NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers reflect the diversity of the nation.

We are pleased to announce the next cohort of Consortium investigators who will be participating in the Faculty Leadership Academy:

  • Dr. Holly Harris (FH; Breast & Ovary Cancers)
  • Dr. Leah Marcotte (UW; Cancer Epidemiology, Prevention & Control)
  • Dr. Mazyar Shadman (FH; Hematologic Malignancies)
  • Dr. Megan Shen (FH; Cancer Epidemiology, Prevention & Control)
  • Dr. Aakanksha Singhvi (FH; Cancer Basic Biology)
  • Dr. Christina Termini (FH; Hematologic Malignancies)
  • Dr. Yolanda Tseng (UW; Hematologic Malignancies)
  • Dr. Afua Yorke (UW; Non-Programmatically Aligned)
This program is open to all Fred Hutch faculty and all Cancer Consortium members at UW or Seattle Children's. Faculty at all ranks are eligible to apply. In order to be eligible, candidates must have completed our Cancer Consortium demographic survey (available here). The next round of applications will open in the Summer of 2026. More information will be available soon.

Please join us in congratulating these investigators!

In the Spotlight

The following interinstitutional collaborations by Cancer Consortium members were featured in the most recent edition of Fred Hutch's Science Spotlight:

  • "Histone mark profiling identifies KLF7 as critical for CAR-T cell proliferation" involved collaborative work by Drs. Jay Sarthy (Cancer Basic Biology), Jordan Gauthier (Cancer Immunology), Alexandre Hirayama (Cancer Immunology), Stan Riddell (Cancer Immunology), Qian Wu (Biostatistics & Computational Biology), David Maloney (Cancer Immunology), and Steve Henikoff (Cancer Basic Biology).
  • "First in-human HIV vaccine to induce virus-specific neutralizing antibodies" involved collaborative work by Drs. Holly Janes (Biostatistics & Computational Biology), Stephen De Rosa (Cancer Immunology), Lawrence Corey (Cancer Immunology), Ollivier Hyrien (Biostatistics & Computational Biology), and M Juliana McElrath (Pathogen Associated Malignancies).
  • "Cell death on a chip: new tools for a new era of cancer biology" involved collaborative work by Drs. Albert Folch (Cancer Basic Biology), Raymond Yeung (Non-Programmatically Aligned), and Taran Gujral (Prostate Cancer).
 

CURRENT FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Administrative Supplements to Support Cancer Disparity Collaborative Research (Clinical Trial Optional)

The purpose of this NOFO is to promote new cancer disparities research among investigators who do not normally conduct it and to encourage the partnership of experienced cancer research investigators with cancer disparities-focused researchers that is intended to accelerate and strengthen multi-disciplinary cancer disparities research in wide ranging areas. Proposed collaborations should focus on achieving research objectives that by necessity rely on diverse and complementary expertise, technical capabilities, and resource sets. Importantly, the supplemental proposal is required to be within the scope of the parent award and should expand the original aims to include a cancer disparity component and possible inclusion of international comparator cohorts.

Upcoming Application Receipt Due Dates: January 23rd, 2025

For more information, refer to the website or FAQs. You can also watch the recording of the pre-application webinar.

Survivorship Pilot Award

The Cancer Consortium Survivorship Program invites proposals of high impact and innovation that will promote new research directions focused on cancer survivors. The goal of this award is to stimulate cross-institutional collaborations (Fred Hutch, UW, Seattle Children’s) and/or new collaborations between Consortium investigators who have not previously worked together.

According to the National Cancer Institute, "Survivorship focuses on the health and well-being of a person with cancer from the time of diagnosis until the end of life. This includes the physical, mental, emotional, social, and financial effects of cancer that begin at diagnosis and continue through treatment and beyond. The survivorship experience also includes issues related to follow-up care (including regular health and wellness checkups), late effects of treatment, cancer recurrence, second cancers, and quality of life. Family members, friends, and caregivers are also considered part of the survivorship experience." However, for the purposes of this application, projects that focus on timepoints at time of cancer diagnosis and treatment will be accepted only if they are clearly linked to a long-term health or psychosocial outcome. Health services research proposals otherwise meeting these criteria are also welcome.

Funding details: Up to $50,000 direct costs over 1 year, to begin June 1, 2025. Payment of indirect costs is not allowed for this award.
Due Date: December 31st, 2024. Applications should be submitted to Ms. Emily Artim (erajotte@fredhutch.org).

Click here to view the RFA with additional details, including application instructions.

Eligibility Criteria: 
1) At least one of the primary investigators should be a Cancer Consortium investigator.
2) Priority will be given to applications that involve cross-institutional collaborations (investigators with primary appointments at different Consortium partners) and/or new collaborations (which can be among investigators based at the same Consortium partner but who have no previously co-funded work and no significant non-funded prior collaborations).
3) Priority will be given to investigators who have not previously received a Survivorship Pilot Award.
4) A member of the application team will be asked to pitch their proposal at the "Late Effects & Survivorship Seminar" on January 9, 2025 (1-3pm).

For further details or questions, please refer to the Cancer Consortium website or contact Dr. Eric Chow (ericchow@uw.edu).
 

UPCOMING EVENTS

» [Ongoing] Steam Plant Seminar Series

Please join us in the Steam Plant O’Mack Suites (Fred Hutch Campus) at 4pm on Wednesdays for a seminar series organized by Steam Plant trainees. 

  • November 13th: Angie Aguire-Tobar (Sinnott-Armstrong Lab)
  • November 20th: Siegan McKeller (R. Bradley Lab)
  • December 4th: Rasia Glabman (Comparative Medicine, Pathology)
  • December 11th: Bleakley Lab
A schedule of talks can be found on the Steam Plant’s Community CenterNet site (*requires FH credentials). To receive notifications, please join the mailing list at https://lists.fhcrc.org/postorius/lists/steamplant-seminar.lists.fhcrc.org/. You will need to copy and paste this link into your browser, if using a Mac. If you are working remotely, you will need to be on VPN to access the listserv.

Contact Becca Jourdan (rjourdan@fredhutch.org) for more information.  

» [Ongoing] Integrated Research Center Seminar Series

Immunotherapy Integrated Research Center (IIRC) Seminars

  • December 5th: Marcela Maus, MD, PhD, Harvard (2pm, Pelton Auditorium, Fred Hutch Campus)

» [Ongoing] Shared Resources Seminar Series

Please join the shared resources team for their new monthly seminar series. Each hour-long seminar will be presented by a different shared resource, and will focus on a topic pertinent to the work of that core.

Upcoming Seminar Dates:

  • November 13th (11:30am): "Training and In Vivo Surgical Services with Comparative Medicine," presented by Alex Hicks-Nelson, Comparative Medicine (D1-080, Sze Suites, Fred Hutch Campus). Click here to register.
  • December 18th (11:30am): TBD (D1-080, Sze Suites, Fred Hutch Campus)
All seminars will also be available virtually. Attendees will receive a Teams link once they sign up.
Please contact Tony Bohn (abohn@fredhutch.org) with any questions.

» November 13, 2024: Rare Cancers Research Symposium

Seattle Translational Tumor Research (STTR) is pleased to present the second Rare Cancers Research Symposium. The symposium will take place Wednesday, November 13th, from 8:00am-2:00pm in Pelton Auditorium (B1-065, Weintraub Building, Fred Hutch Campus).

For questions or more information about this event, please contact STTRCancer@fredhutch.org.

» November 14, 2024: Joint BOC + CEPC Program Retreat

Please save the date for a joint retreat hosted by the Consortium's Breast & Ovary Cancers (BOC) and Cancer Epidemiology, Prevention & Control (CEPC) Programs. The retreat will take place from 8:00am-3:00pm on Thursday, November 14th, in the O’Mack Symposium Suite in the Steam Plant Building (Fred Hutch campus). 

The theme for this retreat is "Understanding disparities contributing to oncogenesis and cancer outcomes." This is a unique opportunity to learn from leading minds in the field, alongside basic scientists, epidemiologists, and clinicians involved in developing genetic tests for predicting patient outcomes and response to therapy.

We are especially thrilled to announce that our keynote speaker for this year's retreat is the esteemed Professor Melissa Davis from the Morehouse School of Medicine. Dr. Davis’s pioneering research is leveraging high-throughput genomics technologies to uncover how genetic underpinnings interplay with social factors to drive health disparities. A testament to her original and highly rigorous research program is that her team was just awarded a Cancer Research UK Grand Challenge Award.

For questions or more information about this event, please contact Shauntel Thomas (srthomas@fredhutch.org).
 

FROM THE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

ACCA Team Science Network Meetings

The Association of Cancer Center Administrators (ACCA) hosts a bimonthly Team Science Network meeting to discuss various topics related to facilitating team science specifically at cancer centers. Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of every other month from 11am-12pm PT and are open to anyone with an interest in research development and team science. The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 4th.

Click here to join via Zoom or email Kristen Scott (kristen.scott@moffitt.org) to be added to the calendar invitation and mailing list.
 

FROM THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH & ENGAGEMENT

Call for Mentors and Reviewers for the 2025 Community Grants Program

The OCOE is getting ready for the Community Grants Program for 2025 and is looking for volunteer reviewers and mentors!

This small grants program supports community-based organizations and Tribes working toward health equity in diverse communities across Washington State. Mentors are matched with applicants to help develop or review proposal drafts. Reviewers will then evaluate and score submitted projects.

Grant timeline:

  • November 2024: RFA released
  • January - February 2025: Mentors matched with applicants
  • March 2025: Reviewers score applications
Please reach out to Liz Tallent (etallent@fredhutch.org) or Carrie Nass (cnass2@fredhutch.org) if you are interested or have questions.

The OCOE Is Hiring!

The OCOE is seeking a Community Health Educator II for Rural Populations who shares our mission to achieve cancer health equity by using bidirectional, anti-racist, community-engaged approaches in outreach, programming, and research. The position is based at the Fred Hutch office in Seattle and works collaboratively with a team and community partners across Washington State. More information, as well as a link to apply, can be found here.

Please share this posting with anyone in your network who might be interested!

FROM THE NCI

Help Shape the NIH Strategic Plan for Disability Research 

NIH is in the initial stage of developing an agency-wide NIH Strategic Plan for Disability Research. This strategic plan will identify scientific themes and develop operational goals and objectives to advance research activities that promote the health and well-being of people with disabilities. Central to the strategic planning process is robust and meaningful community engagement to obtain a diverse range of input that will help inform the plan. 

We invite members of disability communities, including people with lived experience of disability, researchers, clinicians, advocacy organizations, and professional associations, to participate in the strategic planning process. NIH is holding a series of community engagement events over the next two months to better identify and understand disability communities’ health and research concerns and unique needs and preferences. Interested individuals are welcome to observe any of the Community Roundtables, join in on the Town Hall, and/or submit their input via a forthcoming Request for Information (RFI). 

 Additional information and instructions on how to register for the events are available here.
 

FROM THE CONSORTIUM SHARED RESOURCES

New! Monthly Shared Resources Seminar Series

Shared Resources is excited to announce a new monthly seminar series in which a different Shared Resources core will present an hour long seminar informing people about a topic pertinent to the work of that core. Our inaugural seminar in September was titled "Unlocking the Power of Shared Resources," which gave a brief overview of all our Shared Resources at Fred Hutch. Genomics & Bioinformatics presented October's seminar, "Illumina Sequencing at Fred Hutch: Overview and Applications" (pictured below), which allowed attendees to learn about the history and fundamentals of Illumina sequencing, as well as the technologies and applications available at Fred Hutch.  

For more information on upcoming seminars, see the "Events" section above.
 
FRED HUTCH/UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON/SEATTLE CHILDREN'S CANCER CONSORTIUM
1100 FAIRVIEW AVE. N., SEATTLE, WA 98109
https://www.cancerconsortium.org/

Award number P30 CA015704-49