Vanderbilt University and the National Foundation for Cancer Research Launch New Center for Proteomics and Drug Actions $1 Million Grant to Fund New Drug Discoveries

(Nashville, Tenn., and Bethesda, MD, December, 12, 2006)—Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) announced today the establishment of a new cancer research center that will be linked in with seven others around the world. The NFCR Center for Proteomics and Drug Actions, funded by a $1 million, 5-year grant from NFCR, will be led by Dr. Larry Marnett, Ph.D., the Mary Geddes Stahlman Professor of Cancer Research and professor of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University. The center will be co-directed by Dr. Dan Liebler and Dr. Richard Caprioli, also of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC).

With the completion of the Human Genome Project, it has become apparent that the field of proteomics research holds tremendous promise for cancer research, including the discovery of molecular markers for early diagnosis, identifying novel protein drug targets for new anticancer drug development, and revealing new endpoints for accelerating clinical trials. In order to advance this field and address the challenges that prevent the full use of proteomics technology to develop new drugs, NFCR has created the Center for Proteomics and Drug Actions at Vanderbilt University. Scientists at the Center will collaborate to develop new technology that will reveal how drugs interact with the protein targets, both therapeutic and the potential side-effects – this is essential to establish the complete road map of how an anti-cancer drug works inside a cancer cell. The combined expertise of these three leading scientists at this NFCR center will make significant contributions to cancer proteomics research and novel anticancer drugs development.

Already, through earlier financial support from NFCR, Dr. Marnett has been able to successfully develop techniques that manipulate the structure of drug agents and make them bind to their targets more tightly, thus forming stable drug-target markers that make them easier to be detected and extracted. This new grant allows Dr. Marnett to expand and take his research to a new level.

Researchers at the NFCR Center at Vanderbilt will become a vital part of a global network of NFCR scientists at universities and hospitals worldwide. “Our grant to the NFCR Center for Proteomics and Drug Actions brings together three of the top chemical scientists in proteomics research linking them in with other researchers around the world to work on the development of new anticancer drugs. It is this type of collaboration that will speed along the development of new cancer drugs and help save lives,” said Franklin Salisbury, Jr., President of the National Foundation for Cancer Research.

Cancer is an extremely complex disease—with over 200 different types and subtypes, requiring extensive collaboration across a variety of scientific disciplines. As a result, NFCR has founded the NFCR Discovery Research Centers initiative of which this Center will join in conjunction with other NFCR Centers at the University of Oxford, Yale University, Case Western Reserve University, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Dana Farber Cancer Center in Boston, MA, Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, AZ, and the Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology in Beijing. Through this initiative, NFCR has created a global consortium, promoting collaborations while providing cutting-edge technology platforms for top scientists to discover the root causes of cancer.

“This investment by NFCR creates an opportunity to advance our understanding of an area that will have a substantial impact on the future of how cancer is treated. The unique role that NFCR plays in funding research like ours will have a very positive long-term impact for future cancer patients all over the world,” Marnett said.

National Foundation for Cancer Research

Since 1973 the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) has spent over $230 million funding basic science cancer research and public education relating to the prevention, treatment and cure of cancer. NFCR facilitates collaboration among scientists worldwide so that breakthroughs in one area of research may lead to discoveries in another. NFCR is about accelerating the pace of discovery from bench to bedside and to educating the public so that, together, we can achieve one of medicine's greatest goals: curing cancer. For more information, visit www.NFCR.org or call 1-800-321-CURE (2873).

Vanderbilt University

A major referral center for the Southeast and the nation, VUMC is made up of Vanderbilt University Hospital, The Vanderbilt Clinic, Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, Vanderbilt School of Medicine and Vanderbilt School of Nursing. VUMC is the region’s largest private employer, with more than 8,000 employees and an annual economic impact that exceeds $1 billion. Services include the Burn Center, a Level I Trauma Center, the LifeFlight helicopter ambulance service, a Level 4 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the Middle Tennessee Poison Center. VUMC also offers 92 specialty clinics, including the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Tennessee. For more information, go to www.mc.vanderbilt.edu.

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Media Contact:

Silas Deane
National Foundation for Cancer Research
Phone: 800.321.CURE (2873) ext. 105
E-mail: sdeane@nfcr.org

Bill Snyder
VUMC News and Public Affairs
Phone: 615.604.7726 or 615.322.4747
E-mail: william.snyder@Vanderbilt.edu