The Northwestern University Cancer Health Equity Research SPORE (NU-CHERS)
Northwestern University
Principal Investigator(s):
Melissa Simon MD, MPH
- Principal Investigator(s) Contact Information
- Overview
- Project 1: Understanding Racial Disparity in Endometrial Cancer through Tumor Genomics
- Project 2: Tumor Methylomics Analysis Link with Racial Disparities in Ovarian Cancer
- Administrative Core
- Gynecologic Biospecimen Pathology Core
- Developmental Research Program
- Institutional SPORE Website
Principal Investigator(s) Contact Information
Melissa Simon MD, MPH
Vice Chair of Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
George H. Gardner Professor of Clinical Gynecology
Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine and Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
625 North Michigan Ave, Suite 1100
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 503-8780
Overview
The Northwestern University Cancer Health Equity Research SPORE (NU-CHERS) will generate scientific findings and establish sustainable, collaborative, academic and community infrastructure that will serve as the foundation for a comprehensive translational cancer research program focused on gynecologic cancer health disparities — the first of its kind in the nation.
The initial translational research focus of NU-CHERS is on endometrial and ovarian cancer disparities experienced by Black women.
- Research Project 1: Understanding Racial Disparity in Endometrial Cancer through Tumor Genomics
- Research Project 2: Tumor Methylomics Analysis Link with Racial Disparities in Ovarian Cancer
The shared resources of the Gynecologic Biospecimen Pathology and Administrative Cores support these projects. NU-CHERS also hosts educational seminars and provides awards to innovative research through the Developmental Research Program.
Project 1: Understanding Racial Disparity in Endometrial Cancer through Tumor Genomics
Project Co-Leaders:
J. Julie Kim, PhD (Basic Co-Leader)
Dario R. Roque, MD (Clinical Co-Leader)
Racial disparity is present in endometrial cancer with black women exhibiting increased aggressive disease and a higher death rate compared to white women. We will investigate the biological etiology through tumor genomics, and will also explore racial disparity for progestin response given that young black women exhibit advanced disease with worse prognosis compared to young white women. We will use customized bioinformatics tools to mine the sequencing data along with clinical information and use novel ex vivo models to determine progestin response to generate signatures for responders and non-responders.
Project 2: Tumor Methylomics Analysis Link with Racial Disparities in Ovarian Cancer
Project Co-Leaders:
Daniela Matei, MD (Basic Co-Leader)
Emma Barber, MD (Clinical Co-Leader)
Ovarian cancer remains the deadliest cancer with significantly reduced survival rates among black women compared to white women, despite similar stage distribution and histological types at diagnosis. This project focuses on epigenetic markers, particularly DNA methylation, which we hypothesize function as a link between socio-economic or environmental factors and genomic alterations to alter the course of the disease and response to therapy. We aim to identify key oncogenic drivers regulated epigenetically in tumors from black vs. white women and generate useful new resources (organoids and patient-derived xenografts) to continue to address biological questions related to racial differences in ovarian cancer response to treatment.
Administrative Core
Core Directors:
Melissa Simon, MD, MPH (Core Director)
Daniela Matei, MD (Core Co-Director)
The Administrative Core (AC) provides oversight and support to all NU-CHERS activities, ensuring integration, coordination, communication, and fiscal administration across the translational research projects, the Cores and the Developmental Research Program. The management and administrative leadership of the AC is supported by the Leadership Council, Internal Advisory Board, External Advisory Board and Community Advisory Board to ensure all P20 milestones are achieved to support infrastructure planning and obtainment of a P50.
Gynecologic Biospecimen Pathology Core
Core Directors:
Jian-Jun Wei, MD (Core Director)
Thomas Lad, MD (Core Co-Director)
The Gynecologic Biospecimen Pathology Core is a collaborative effort between Northwestern University, the Lurie Cancer Center and John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County to collect gynecologic specimens from patients undergoing surgery to treat their cancer. The collection of these specimens is critical to furthering research to substantiate disparities experienced by black and white women in types of cancers diagnosis to survival outcomes in Chicago. Establishing this biobank creates sustainability for researchers focused on identifying scientific reason for disparities that can be translated into treatment initiatives directed at improving black women’s outcomes of gynecologic cancers.
Developmental Research Program
Program Directors:
Melissa Simon, MD, MPH (Director)
J. Julie Kim, PhD (Co-Director)
The Developmental Research Program is an incubator of novel, cutting edge and competitive translational research of gynecologic cancer disparities. The program’s mission centers on the theme of Contemporary Translational Approaches to Advancing Health Equity in the Detection, Diagnoses, and Treatment of Gynecologic Cancers. Through this mission, merited projects with the highest probabilities of significant impact in disrupting the health disparities experienced by black women will be funded. It is this program’s expectation that selected projects will secure more substantial funding at the end of the project period to advance the work of eliminating disparities of BIPOC women. These funding opportunities can provide career enhancement training to scientists, clinicians and communities to support their efforts at affecting impact within gynecologic cancer disparities. It also exposes new or refocusing investigators to the rigors of NIH style review and competitive funding application process. Through educational seminars a new audience will be exposed to health inequities, translational research and its impact on patients.
Institutional SPORE Website
https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/sites/chet/research/p20-spore.html