NCI Convenes 2019 Annual Principal Investigators Meeting of the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer

The NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer (the Alliance) was launched in 2005 to incorporate nanotechnology-based materials, devices, and tools into cancer research. Since its inception, the program has grown into a strong, biologically and clinically driven effort relying on novel use of nanotechnologies to improve effectiveness of cancer interventions.

The Alliance is a combination of several funding mechanisms:

• Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNEs) drive the development of new cancer interventions with the aim of translating them to the clinic.
• Innovative Research in Cancer Nanotechnology (IRCNs) are responsible for mechanistic, fundamental studies leading to better understanding of in vivo nanoparticle delivery and nanomedicine mode of actions.
• Cancer Nanotechnology Training Centers (CNTCs) establish innovative research education programs supporting the development of contemporary nano-biology and nanomedicine workforce.
• The Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (NCL) at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, the only intramural component of the Alliance, characterizes nanomaterials suitable for imaging and therapeutic cancer applications.

NCI convened its Annual Principal Investigators Meeting of the Alliance on September 24-26, 2019 (agenda). This was the fourteenth annual gathering of 100-150 investigators of different levels of experience, including project Principal Investigators, project leaders, post-doctoral fellows, students, and federal employees. This two-and-a-half-day gathering included:

• presentations and poster sessions providing updates of currently funded grants
• invited presentations on future research and clinical strategies in cancer nanotechnology
• discussions on pressing issues needed to advance the field

Recognizing the maturation of cancer nanotechnology and its integration into the mainstream NCI grant portfolio, NCI will retire the CCNE program in the summer of 2020. The CCNEs are credited with:

• building an effective multi-disciplinary research environment
• developing and translating novel technologies from academia to the clinic and commercial space
• developing technologies that resulted in the formation of more than 100 start-up companies and entered more than 20 clinical trials

NCI’s interest in funding nanotechnology for cancer remains strong: the overall budgets supporting nanotechnology efforts in the institute grew from $100 million in 2008 to more than $200 million in 2018.

Outstanding Poster Presentation Awardees at the Principal Investigators Meeting (L to R: Yazhen Zhu, UCLA; Gang Han on behalf of Nhung Nguyen, University of Massachusetts; Yara Kadria-Vili, Rice University; Andrew Lee on behalf of Shuya Wang, Northwestern University; Not pictured — Luman Liu, Iowa State University)