The UC Irvine Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health has been awarded more than $1.6 million for a 5-year renewal of its prestigious R25 training grant, ‘BigCARE’, or Big Data for Cancer Research, from the National Cancer Institute to advance cancer research. This funding mechanism is designed to inspire and train the next generation of biomedical, behavioral and clinical researchers.
Since its inception in 2020, the BigCARE program, led by principal investigator Min Zhang and Dabao Zhang, both professors of epidemiology and biostatistics at Wen Public Health, has equipped researchers with the skills needed to manage, visualize, analyze and integrate big data – extremely large and complex datasets – into their cancer research. This complex data, drawn from diverse sources, requires advanced statistical and computational tools to extract meaningful insights. Building on a previous big data training program for biomedical researchers at Zhang’s previous institute Purdue University and in collaboration with Jenny Wu, director of bioinformatics from the UCI Genomics Research & Technology Hub, BigCARE specifically focuses on empowering cancer researchers with the analytical capabilities necessary to translate big data into actionable knowledge, advancing precision cancer medicine.
Traditional statistical approaches often fall short in harnessing big data’s full potential, especially when studying cancer at granular levels, such as single-cell and single-molecule scales. With big data, researchers can uncover deeper insights into cancer biology, leading to more accurate risk predictions, earlier diagnoses and the development of personalized treatment strategies. The recent funding extension will allow even more researchers, who are at all stages of their careers, to explore innovative methods for analyzing vast datasets to address key challenges in cancer research.
At the heart of the BigCARE program is its flagship event – the annual summer training workshop for researchers, oncologists, faculty members, postdoctoral fellows and graduate-level students from across the country. With the renewed support, Wen Public Health will continue to offer its annual workshop for the next five years.
The 2024 workshop, held in July, included a series of nine special lectures featuring esteemed professors and leaders across UC Irvine who cover a wide array of topics in cancer and disease research, such as tracking exposure and the spread of infectious diseases (Phillip Felgner), systems biology approaches in cancer research (Marian Waterman), big data and cancer (Richard Van Etten), research misconduct (Georg Striedter), integrating data types to understand the impact of early-life experiences (Hal S. Stern), and the NIH Health Ecosystem (Steve Goldstein). In addition, Eric Stahlberg from the Federick National Laboratory for Cancer Research talked about the future for personalized precision health, Sean Davis talked about utilizing Bioconductor software for cancer research, and Jill Barnholtz-Sloan from the National Cancer Institute discussed utilizing data to make advancements for cancer.
This year, a total of 30 cancer researchers and 10 additional researchers in infectious and immune-mediated diseases, attended the training workshop funded by the original NCI grant and supplemental funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
“After going through our training program, our BigCARE attendees report that they use their acquired skills to publish scientific papers and secure grants related to big data projects,” said Zhang, who is also the director of Biostatistics Shared Resource at the UCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Many of our students continue to engage with us by sharing potential topics for future workshops which continues to showcase the success and interest to continue to expand our big data training program, tailored specifically for cancer researchers.”
This workshop is a long-term collaboration with Sean Davis, associate director of informatics and data science at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, who brings expertise in machine learning and software development. Additional partners include Carol Song, Eric Adams, and Ryan DeRue who provide computing resources from Purdue University’s Anvil supercomputer, which provides the participants with access to high-performance computing resource designed for cancer researchers with limited computing skills.
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