The first cycle of UCRF Competitive Awards were announced in March with 18 grants awarded from a pool of 112 applications. Two proposals from CCGS investigators were selected for funding- Jason Lieb and Helena Furberg-Barnes (Pat Sullivan’s lab).
Jason’s project proposes to use a technique developed in his lab, FAIRE (Formaldehyde-Assisted Isolation of Regulatory Elements), to comprehensively identify the set of active DNA-encoded regulatory elements in breast tumor samples collected at UNC. FAIRE isolates regions of “open” chromatin which will then be identified by high-throughput sequencing, providing the first genome-wide view of chromatin structure in cancer. The regulatory regions identified in this screen will be compared to existing gene expression data from the same samples for a comprehensive view of site specific gene regulation, sequence variation effects, and identification of new carcinogenic factors.
Helena’s grant will establish a Tobacco and Genetics (TAG) Consortium to identify novel genetic factors that contribute to nicotine dependence. The Consortium will conduct a meta-analysis of the relationship of 2.2 million genetic markers to nicotine dependence using pooled data of more than 75,000 individuals from existing genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for other traits. The results of this project have the potential to inform research efforts and cancer prevention thereby making a significant impact on the cancer burden in our population.
Congratulations to Jason and Helena. A second application opportunity for the awards program is anticipated in late spring.