Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and collaborators from five other institutions have received a National Cancer Institute UG1 (formerly U10) grant that will help fund translational research in thoracic malignancies.

The six-year, approximately $4.5-million grant (UG1CA233259) is a successful renewal of a previous award that brings together a team of outstanding researchers from six institutions participating in the ECOG-ACRIN Thoracic Malignancies Integrated Translational Science Center (EA-ITSC). The consortium combines both translational and clinical sciences to discover biomarkers and develop novel treatment approaches for lung cancer within the National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN).

Winship Deputy Director Suresh Ramalingam, MD is the contact principal investigator for the award that includes co-principal investigators Drs. Charles Rudin (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center) and David Carbone (The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center). Other Winship key personnel are Taofeek Owonikoko, MD, PhD and Shi-Yong Sun, PhD, who will serve as co-investigators.

Ramalingam says "the goal of the grant is to conduct translational research for thoracic malignancies within the NCTN. Winship research will focus on targeted therapies and immunotherapy in lung cancer to help us better understand mechanisms of resistance and efforts to improve the effectiveness of immune check point inhibition."