PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Markey Cancer Center (MCC) is a university-based matrix cancer center at the University of Kentucky (UK) with a mission to reduce the cancer burden with a focus on Kentucky and its most vulnerable populations through research, prevention, treatment, education and community engagement. As the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center in the state, the MCC is vital to Kentucky, the U.S. leader for highest all-site cancer incidence and mortality. Notably, recognition of the extraordinary disease burden in Kentucky’s vulnerable populations, as a significant underpinning of that national ranking, shapes the MCC vision and goals and drives its unique focus on prevalent cancers and cancer risk factors in the catchment population. Over $569M in state, institutional and philanthropic investment since 2009 has supported significant research and resource expansion, propelling new faculty recruitment, program development, clinical and shared resource space renovations, new state-of-the art instrumentation and statewide education and community outreach. MCC’s 159 members align with one of three MCC Research Programs: Cancer Prevention and Control, Molecular and Cellular Oncology and Translational Oncology, and are supported by seven Shared Resource Facilities that facilitate cutting-edge research via robust infrastructure, specialized expertise and advanced methods: Biospecimen Procurement and Translational Pathology, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Cancer Research Informatics, Flow Cytometry and Immune Monitoring, Oncogenomics, Patient-Oriented and Population Sciences and Redox Metabolism. Significant achievements in this funding period include an increased research depth and breadth as indicated by increased total cancer-relevant funding (41%), peer- reviewed funding (35%) and NCI funding (55%). Expanded transdisciplinary collaborations, driven in part through a strategic focus on precision medicine and a more streamlined translational pipeline, resulted in 26 new therapeutic trials, 8 concepts or devices in Phase I or II clinical trials, 10 agents or devices undergoing in vivo validation, 43 patent applications and 17 patents during the current funding period—all based on MCC science. In collaboration with other U.S. and international cancer centers, the number of U- and P-series grants awarded to the MCC increased by 80%. The number of member publications increased by 28% (total of 1,093) with 62% of the publications with cancer investigators at other institutions. Expanded education and training initiatives include a new NCI T32 focused on rural cancer health disparities, a new NCI R25 Youth Enjoy Science award to engage Appalachian students in cancer research and two new training programs emphasizing diversity, equity and inclusion. With unique research strengths and integrated statewide community outreach and engagement, MCC’s programs provide robust capacity to deliver transformative interventional research to Kentucky’s underserved populations, thereby contributing to national efforts to conquer cancer through discovery and clinical translation, cancer prevention and community outreach.

PROJECT NARRATIVE As the only NCI-designated Cancer Center in Kentucky, the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center serves a statewide catchment area with a population of 4.4 million residents and extraordinary cancer prevalence. In its mission to reduce the cancer burden with a focus on Kentucky and its most vulnerable populations through research, prevention, treatment, education and community engagement, the center has made and will continue to make significant strides in advancing access to quality cancer care; implementing bold transformational research spanning basic, translational, and population science, including clinical trials to address Kentucky’s unique cancer burden; and introducing innovative population-level interventions to accelerate translational impact in reducing challenging health disparities and significantly impact patients in the state and the nation.