Breast Cancer SPORE Developmental Research Program

The Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer SPORE strives to establish innovative and high-quality projects in the developmental research program that generate results that can be translated into clinical applications.

Not only do new ideas emerge from the laboratory that need to be tested in a clinical setting, but in many instances, clinical practice results in findings that need to be further developed in the laboratory. The Developmental Research Program engages this cycle of interaction between research discoveries and clinical practice.

Developmental Research awards are given for innovative laboratory, population and clinical study proposals that include interdisciplinary collaboration and demonstrate the potential to generate new hypotheses that can be tested in larger scale research projects or clinical trials.

Novel research is imperative in a field where a cure is yet to be found. The availability of developmental research support provides a stimulus for creativity, a vehicle for encouraging the interaction of basic scientists and translational investigators, and an opportunity for expanding the research spectrum of the SPORE.

Current Developmental Research Program awards

Following a Mayo-wide competition, six Breast SPORE Developmental Research Program awards were made in September 2011. Each of these awards were for one year with anticipation of a second year of funding based on demonstration of adequate progress. Expectations of these projects are that they will develop sufficient preliminary data for a successful R01-level grant application by the completion of the two years of funding and that they have the potential for progression to a full project within the Breast SPORE. The six investigators and the titles of their projects are listed below.

Breast SPORE Developmental Research Program projects