OCRI’s Application for Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Affinity Research Collaborative Funding Successful

We are delighted to report that the OCRI’s submission to the Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research for funding was successful. As a result, a number of OCRI researchers will continue to collaborate on the OCRI ARC. The OCRI pre-ARC was formed in 2012 and submitted an application for funding in November 2013. The ARC is co-funded by the Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research and the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine.

There are a number of ARCs on the medical campus, each consisting of approximately 5 to 8 investigators who focus on a research theme, explored with the aid of different disciplines and technologies, to advance research and discovery as it applies to disease states. EPOC members meet on a monthly basis to discuss results and to plan future studies. In addition, the Directors of all ARCs meet on a regular basis to review the OCRI ARC’s progress in terms of new research findings, publications and grant applications.

The OCRI ARC consists of a number of translational projects which focus on different facets of head and neck/oral cancer. The Specific Aims are:

1. Defining signaling networks and novel targets of oral cancer initiation and progression to malignancy
2. Preclinical testing of novel anti-oral cancer therapeutics and oral microbiome
3. Identifying molecular biomarkers to personalize early detection and treatment of oral cancer

More information about the OCRI ARC is available on the Evans Center website.