January 23, 2012

Biomarker Discovery Center to participate in new consortium

The National Cancer Institute has chosen Johns Hopkins’ Biomarker Discovery Center as one of the research entities to participate in a new multimillion dollar Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium that will undertake a coordinated effort to develop a catalog of proteins created by cancer cells. This information, which will be made available to other researchers, could be used to develop new ways to detect cancer and treat it.

Daniel Chan, professor of pathology, oncology, radiology and urology in the School of Medicine and director of the Biomarker Discovery Center, says that Johns Hopkins’ 10-member research team will focus on ovarian cancer, and that he expects to receive $2 million annually from the NCI for the next five years.

In addition to Johns Hopkins, the research consortium includes the Broad Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Vanderbilt University, Washington University, the University of North Carolina and Boise State University.