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Prostate SPORE Cores
There are two scientific cores: Core A (see below) and Core B. There is also an Administrative Core
CORE A: Biostatistics/Bioinformatics Core
Alexander Tsodikov, Ph.D. (Core Director)
The goal of the Biostatistics/Bioinformatics Core is to collaborate with SPORE Investigators and other Core resource scientists to enhance the quality of the research undertaken in the Michigan Prostate SPORE. The Core personnel have been chosen because of their expertise in relevant areas of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics that is specifically required for the SPORE projects to succeed. Support will be provided in all stages of the research, beginning with the formulation of the research question, through the experimental design stage and data collection stage, including genomic sequencing, data analysis, and interpretation, to the writing of reports and dissemination of results. It will be apparent from this proposal that Core personnel have played a significant role in designing the proposed experiments and planning the data analyses. The exact nature of the collaboration will depend on the specifics of the science and the needs of the project. In addition to direct support of the projects and other Cores, senior statisticians will also focus on statistical methodology development and the advancement of genomic/bioinformatic capabilities related to the needs of prostate cancer research in this SPORE. Thus, the Specific Aims of the Core are:
- Assist Investigators in the design of clinical, laboratory, and high-throughput genomic sequencing experiments
- Assist Investigators in the analysis and interpretation of data from clinical and laboratory experiments, the processing and examination of high-throughput genomic datasets, and in writing of manuscripts relaying Michigan Prostate SPORE results to the scientific community
- Undertake translational biostatistics/bioinformatics research to develop methodology and software implementation relevant to prostate cancer including the development of algorithmic toolkits for emerging types of genomic assays and the adaptation/refinement of existing computational approaches to the needs of the Michigan Prostate SPORE
- To establish a center of excellence for immunogenomics in prostate cancer. The center will provide state-of-art support for interdisciplinary research at the interface of cancer immunology and genomics and facilitate the rapid clinical translation of immunogenomic findings.
CORE B: Biospecimen/Pathology Core
Lakshmi Priya Kunju, M.D. (Core Director)
Arul M. Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D. (Core Co-Director)
The goal of Michigan Prostate SPORE Biospecimen/Pathology Core is to collect biological materials with associated clinical information to facilitate translational prostate cancer research. The Core places patient confidentiality and clinical care as a top priority. As a coordinated effort between pathology, urology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, and Michigan Prostate SPORE researchers, the Core has developed a unified informatics infrastructure that provides researchers a wide range of annotated samples. The specific goals of the Core include:
- Protection of patient welfare. The highest priority is given to assure that no research protocol compromises pathology diagnosis or tumor staging.
- Acquisition and processing of prostate tissues for research. The Core assures that the widest range of prostate tissues and derived biomolecules are available from various sources, including benign prostate tissue from patients without any known prostatic disease, clinically localized prostate cancer, and metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer (Michigan Legacy Tissue Program).
- High quality pathologic review of prostate tissues. Expert GU pathologists assure uniform review of prostate tissue samples.
- Pathology consultation for the purpose of designing translational research projects. This service focuses on determining the types of tissues and amount required for the successful completion of the research projects.
- Quality assessment of prostate tissues and clinical data. The Biospecimen/Pathology Core staff regularly evaluates frozen and formalin fixed tissues for adequacy.
- Development of technology appropriate for pathology-based translational research. New technologies such as integrative high-throughput sequencing, RNA in situ hybridization, and single-cell analysis have been introduced.
- Provide support to ongoing clinical studies. The Core will continue to provide tissue procurement services and/or high-quality pathology reviews of specimens from patients enrolled in various clinical trials and studies.
- Maintenance of clinical and pathology data with links to molecular studies. The Core will continue to expand the detailed clinical and pathology database conforming to the NCI’s Common Data Elements (CDE) guidelines, permitting queries between molecular findings and clinically relevant outcomes.