College of Science
and Mathematics
p: (617) 287-5777
csm@umb.edu
Center for Personalized Cancer Therapy To Help
Build Health Related Biotechnology in CSM
UMass Boston and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC) have developed a
strong relationship over the last five years, and have established formal partnerships
designed to provide scientific research and training opportunities for students. Final
legislation earmarked $10 million for the Center for Personalized Cancer Therapy
(CPCT) to be established at UMass Boston as a joint effort with the UMB-DF/HCC
partnership. The CPCT will be located within UMass Boston’s new Venture
Development Center (VDC). Additionally, UMass Boston has been awarded a
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center grant for $750,000 to assist in start-up costs for
recruitment for the Brann Endowed Chair in Science and Mathematics, who will serve as
an academic leader in work related to CPCT.
The goal in creating the CPCT is to establish an enterprise that will improve cancer
diagnostics in a way that will lead directly to more effective therapeutic regimens. These
CPCT-developed tests will use state-of-the-art biotechnology to enable highly specific
clinical classification for individual cancer patients. This information will be linked to
emerging knowledge regarding the most effective combination of drugs and other
therapies for that specific tumor type. The informatics arm of CPCT will develop the
capacity to manage these continually growing databases for improved diagnostics, and to
identify optimal and highly individualized therapeutic choices.
The CPCT would work with industry, clinical, and other academic partners throughout
Massachusetts to develop affordable and feasible next-generation clinical tests, which
could be performed in community hospitals throughout the nation and the world. Importantly,
CPCT will also create important new biotechnology and life sciences training opportunities
on the UMass Boston campus. The participation of UMass Boston scientists in CPCT will
greatly broaden the number of students who are able to benefit from regular exposure to
instructors and mentors who are actively involved in cutting-edge science.