Admin Cores

The SASCO Center offers Intra-Center Pilot Projects with cost-matched support from the UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center and UVA Office of the Vice-President for Research. Details on the Intra-Center Pilot Projects are released as an annual Request For Applications.

 

The Systems Analysis of Stress-Adapted Cancer Organelles (SASCO) Center is an NCI-funded U54 Cancer Systems Biology Consortium research center at UVA. SASCO investigators are dedicated to the study of cancer cell biology using integrated experimental and computational methods, especially where computational inferences inform experimental hypotheses. In such projects, a “measure-model-test” cycle is typical. Read more about specific SASCO research themes on oncogenic stress on organelles in three cancer settings, the collaborative research core, and the investigator team at the SASCO website.      In its second year (beginning September 1), the Center will support $100,000 of pilot funding to UVA principal investigators. The broad goal of pilot funding is to introduce investigators to cancer systems biology research questions and approaches. While alignment with the theme of oncogenic stress on organelles is preferred, it is not a required component of a successful pilot project application. Pilot funding applicants can propose projects that integrate with existing SASCO themes, or they can propose new cancer systems biology projects. To aid applicants in designing their approach, the overall aims of the SASCO proposal are available upon request. Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact U54 Center MPI Matthew Lazzara with questions and to discuss project alignment. RFA will post on InfoReady. Applications are not yet being accepted for Year 4 awards. Year 3 Pilot Projects Shayn Pierce-Cottler PhD, UVa Department of Biomedical Engineering Extracellular vesicles (EVs) from hypoxic endothelial cells as regulators of pancreatic cancer cell EMT Sepideh Dolatshahi PhD, UVa Department of Biomedical Engineering Glycan-mediated interactions linked with tumor cell glycosylation and response in human melanoma Nathan Swami PhD, UVa Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Correlating biophysical metrics of metastatic pancreatic cancer cells to their nuclear phenotypes Year 2 Pilot Projects Shayn Pierce-Cottler PhD, UVa Department of Biomedical Engineering Endothelial cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) as regulators of pancreatic cell EMT Lakeshia Taite PhD, UVa Department of Chemical Engineering A Tunable Hydrogel Tumor Microenvironment to Refine Computational Modeling of EMT-associated YAP/TAZ Mechanotransduction Year 1 Pilot Projects Stephanie Redemann PhD, UVa Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, Cell Biology Regulation of the Chromosomal Passenger Complex (CPC) amount on the level of individual chromosomes during mitosis Ahmad Jomaa PhD, UVa Department of Physiology and Biological Physics Mechanism of Tom34-mediated mitochondrial adaptation in colorectal cancer

 

The Leadership Team is the organizing body for Center-level planning and decision-making. The group i) monitors progress toward workforce strategy and excellence, ii) reviews intracenter pilot projects, iii) plans annual site visits with NCI staff and the External Advisory Board, and iv) discusses candidate cross-consortium projects in consultation with the NCI.