Coaxing collaboration
J. Dirk Iglehart, MD, is the principal investigator of a Specialized Program of Research Excellence — or SPORE — in breast cancer.
Often, the prospect of a SPORE grant brings together basic scientists and clinicians whose work seems a natural "fit," but who may not have collaborated much in the past. Example: One of the studies in the breast cancer SPORE teams David Livingston, MD, deputy director of the DF/HCC, with Simon Powell, MD, PhD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, in an investigation of the well-known breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. The researchers and their colleagues hope to locate abnormalities in the genes that are associated with breast cancer and those that are not. The results could lead to new and better diagnostic tests to identify women who have an inherited risk of developing breast cancer at an early age.
To encourage research that travels from the laboratory to the clinic (and back again), the National Cancer Institute requires all studies within a SPORE to have two primary investigators: one basic scientist, and one clinician. "Projects funded by SPOREs must all have as their goal a clinical intervention — a new diagnostic or preventive technique, or a new treatment," Iglehart states. "The success of the projects is evaluated based on their relevance to patients."
Putting a SPORE grant together is a bit like casting a theatrical production. The principal investigator plays the role of talent agent, bringing together researchers who are not only skilled individually, but who also have an aptitude for ensemble work.
"Harvard and its affiliated hospitals include some of the best cancer researchers in the world, but, historically, there hasn't been as much cross-fertilization of ideas as there should be," says Thomas Kupper, MD, director of the Center for Cutaneous Oncology at DFCI and principal investigator of the skin cancer SPORE. "One of our goals is to open up the discourse and help scientists throughout DF/HCC learn what's happening in melanoma and cutaneous lymphoma research, the focus of the skin cancer SPORE."
"If you're a basic scientist, knowing the SPORE program exists gets you to think about the practical uses of your research."
— J. Dirk Iglehart, MD
To prepare the SPORE application, Kupper first learned about all the skin cancer-related work being done within the DF/HCC, then approached researchers whose areas of interest interlocked. "The aim of a SPORE is to build a collaborative community around specific types of cancer," he comments. "I brought people together whose research I thought would reinforce and extend one another."
The theme of collaboration carries beyond the participants in individual research projects. Every month, the breast and skin cancer SPORE leaders host dinners for all their members. One of the research teams generally gives a presentation on its progress. "They're lively events," Iglehart remarks. "There's a lot of give and take between the audience and the presenters. People always offer ideas about how to connect laboratory work with what's happening in the clinic." Each SPORE also holds an annual retreat for its researchers.
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