The FY20 PCARP Translational Research Partnership Award supports partnerships between clinicians and research scientists that will accelerate the movement of promising ideas in pancreatic cancer toward clinical applications. This award supports the development of translational research collaborations between two independent investigators to address a central problem or question in pancreatic cancer in a manner that would be less readily achievable through separate efforts. One partner in the collaboration must function as a research scientist and the other partner as a clinician investigator. It should be clear that both have had equal intellectual input in the design of the research project. Multi-institutional and multi-discipline partnerships are strongly encouraged. At least one partner must have expertise either in pancreatic cancer research or pancreatic cancer patient care. Inclusion of experts from outside the pancreatic cancer field is encouraged. A proposed project in which the clinical partner merely supplies tissue samples or access to patients will not meet the intent of this award mechanism. Full support for large scale clinical trials is not expected; retrospective tissue analysis, correlative studies, or small pilot clinical trials are permitted.
Significant features of the Translational Research Partnership Award:
· Partnership: The success of the project should depend on the unique skills and contributions of each partner.
· Translation: The application should provide evidence for the reciprocal transfer of information between basic and clinical science, or vice versa, in developing and implementing the research plan. Translational research may include correlative studies and/or development of or use of annotated biorepositories. The application should demonstrate how the study will leverage clinical information to address knowledge gaps in resulting outcomes, validate key research findings, expand upon potentially transformative results, and/or investigate novel findings.
· Impact: The proposed research should indicate the potential to have a significant impact on pancreatic cancer research and/or patient care and have the potential to accelerate the movement of promising ideas (in prevention, diagnosis, detection, prognosis, treatment, and/or survivorship) into clinical applications.
· Feasibility: The application should demonstrate that the investigators have access to the necessary specimens, data, and/or intervention, as applicable.
· Preliminary Data: Unpublished results from the laboratory of the PIs or collaborators named on the application that are relevant to pancreatic cancer and the proposed research project, are required.