Scientists at the JAX Cancer Center are combining human cancer genomics with mouse biology and genetics to interrogate cancer in clinically meaningful ways.
The JAX Cancer Center (JAXCC) is a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center complemented by institutional education, resource and service initiatives that support cancer research worldwide. The JAXCC comprises approximately 50 members across two campuses with multidisciplinary expertise who are united in research aimed at understanding and targeting the genomic complexity of cancer.
The mission of the JAXCC is to discover precise genomic solutions for cancer by making basic discoveries with human impact. Committed to our role as an NCI-designated basic research Cancer Center, we harness our transdisciplinary strengths in complex genetics and functional genomics to achieve this goal.
Organized in a single research program, Genetic models for precision cancer medicine, the members combine the JAXCC’s unique capabilities to model human cancers in mice with innovations in genomic and computational analytics of human cancers to attack this broad problem. From RNA biology to chromatin dynamics, from organismal to in silico models of cancer, from panels of genetically diverse strains to humanized mice, from single cell genomics to Patient Derived Xenografts, from genomic engineering technologies to genomic diagnostics—The JAXCC brings advanced genomic technologies to bear on persistent cancer problems through collaborative partnerships with clinical investigators. The success of this strategy has led to the JAXCC, together with the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center, becoming the first two basic science Cancer Centers to be included in the National Clinical Trials Network, through our partnership with SWOG.
The Shared Resources (Cancer Model Development Resource, Computational Sciences, Genetic Engineering Technologies, Genome Technologies/Single Cell Biology, and Phenotyping Technologies) provide comprehensive support for this wide range of research.
The new Cancer Center Cancer Education and Career Enhancement core integrates existing institutional educational programs with new initiatives launched by the JAXCC to support a continuum of learning for students, trainees, young investigators and the Maine community oncology care providers. Our focus on complex genetics and functional genomics, the scale of our model creation and experimentation, and the integration of our diverse talents make the JAXCC a unique enterprise.
