Research Programs

Tumor Biology Program

Program Leader(s): William Lee, MD, PhD, and Anil Rustgi, MD

The Tumor Biology Program unifies investigators who seeks to unravel the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neoplasia and its therapy. The Tumor Biology Program has a twofold mission. First is the promotion of interaction among individual inves tigators, so that the specialized tools, technologies and shared resources developed by individual investigators will find wider application and be used to address other cancer-relevant issues. Second is the translation of information gained from in vitro and cell culture studies to better understand cancer as an in vivo entity. To bring this large research community together and to find opportunities for cooperative and collaborative research endeavors, new initiatives have been undertaken. These include a regularly scheduled series of seminars (see Weekly Events Bulletin) given by members of the Program to acquaint others in the Program about the ongoing activities and interests of their labs. An annual Retreat for Cancer Center Basic Scientists which will begin in Spring 2004 is another new initiative. Potentially the most far reaching is the creation of an interactive website for Cancer Center researchers. The Cancer Center?s website is critical to facilitating further communication and intensifying collaboration among Tumor Biology Pogram members as well as investigators in other Cancer Center Research Programs. Specifically, it: (a) identifies all other members, their contact information and research interests; (b) provides access to Penn resources for cutting edge cancer research (core facilities, tumor tissue banks, animal models, cell lines, vectors, etc.); and (c) creates a vehicle for posting notices, bulletins and queries.