Next Generation Chemistry Centers for Fusion Oncoproteins (UM1 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the National Cancer Institute (NCI)  intends to create multidisciplinary research groups or partnerships for the discovery of pharmacological agents to treat fusion oncoprotein-driven childhood cancers. This NOFO will use the UM1 mechanism to fund Next Generation Chemistry (NGC) Centers with interdisciplinary teams focusing on innovative medicinal chemistry, chemical biology and chemoproteomic approaches to target fusion oncoprotein-driven cancers. The goal of this program is to accelerate innovative drug discovery focused on developing small molecules to effectively disrupt fusion oncoproteins through mechanisms including, but not limited to, inhibiting activities of fusion oncoproteins, blocking critical fusion oncoprotein interactions, modulating coding and/or noncoding RNAs required for fusion protein oncogenesis, and selectively degrading fusion proteins and/or proteins representing critical fusion oncoprotein dependencies. The NCI encourages applications to advance the discovery, preclinical development, and proof of concept testing of new, rationally designed candidate agents to treat fusion-derived childhood cancers. Funding priority will be given to applications that focus on fusion oncoproteins found in tumors that have high risk of treatment failure and for which there has been little progress in identifying targeted therapeutic agents. Applications focused on pediatric solid tumors and brain tumors are particularly encouraged. Small molecules are defined here as chemically synthesized drug-like compounds with molecular weights <2000 Da that can cross cell membranes to modulate fusion-oncoprotein functions.