Research Projects

COLLABORATIONS & PROJECTS:

Dr. Nicholas Schork and his lab members are working on the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) project http://www.standup2cancer.org/.

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is a groundbreaking initiative created to accelerate innovative cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C is bringing together the best and the brightest researchers and encouraging collaboration instead of competition among the entire cancer community. By galvanizing the entertainment industry, SU2C creates awareness and builds broad public support for this effort.

                                             The Longevity Consortium

Investigators in longevity have behaved a bit like separate species. There has been intense scientific intercourse among those working with invertebrates, or with centenarians, or those working on chronic diseases in the elderly, but virtually no contact between these groups. The Consortium will bring together these diverse groups of investigators to develop useful tools, such as a catalogue of polymorphisms in candidate genes that have been associated with longevity in other species, including those that may arise from the DNA microarray analyses of primate tissues that are part of this proposal. It will produce a searchable Website of publications, abstracts, and key resources for the field and an electronic forum for exchange of unpublished ideas and findings. The phenotypes of longevity and frailty developed by this Consortium will help establish common approaches in this area. The Longevity Consortium http://www.longevityconsortium.org/about/

 will engage several large longitudinal cohorts of older adults in longevity research, introducing them to experts in longevity with the expectation that these cohorts will provide adequate sample sizes to study candidate genes, thereby avoiding under-powered negative studies and enabling the rapid confirmation of candidates discovered in laboratories and special populations. If naturally occurring alleles that influence longevity are uncommon or if they have modest effects, then studies to identify and confirm longevity genes must involve the power of these large populations.

The Longevity Consortium will continue to be a multi-institutional collaboration. Not only does the current proposal involves investigators from eight independent institutions, investigators and experts from other institutions will participate on the Steering or Scientific Review Committees. Scientific Opportunity Funds facilitate quick confirmation of findings and testing of new ideas and technologies.

Janssen Healthcare Innovation http://www.janssenhealthcareinnovation.com/ forms unconventional collaborations to identify, develop and test new healthcare products and services that provide meaningful benefits to consumers and patients in this rapidly-evolving healthcare environment. In collaboration with our internal and external partners, Janssen Healthcare Innovation is currently conducting more than 20 different commercial trials of transformative projects

                                                  Bipolar Genome Study (BiGS)

The UCSD Bipolar Disorder Genetics Research Program http://www.bipolar.ucsd.edu/  is focused on discovering the genes that predispose people to bipolar disorder. The goal of our research team is to locate the genes that contribute to certain psychiatric conditions such as bipolar disorder, major depression and schizophrenia.  By doing so, we hope to determine the genes' function in the body and develop a better understanding of the basic chemical imbalances in the brain that cause individuals to experience symptoms.  We will then use this valuable information to aid in the design of better and more effective treatment interventions.  Our team accomplishes these goals by working with families and individuals affected with these conditions. 

We are currently involved in three research projects at  UC San Diego investigating mood disorders and schizophrenia.  This web site addresses bipolar research only.  We will be adding pages in the near future that describe our major depression and schizophrenia studies in detail.

Cancer is a disease of the genes. Every woman’s tumor is genetically unique. The cures for breast cancer will come from specific, targeted therapies that will destroy cancer cells by correcting the consequences of the genetic mutations responsible for each woman’s cancer. Edith Sanford’s http://edithsanford.org/research-and-cures/#Finding%20the%20Cure

work is focused on a bold new approach called forward genomics, which will lead to the most critical breakthroughs in breast cancer research and help women today who are facing this disease. To benefit everyone, all of the essential data from Edith Sanford’s work will be shared with our partners in research —all world-class leaders. Shared information and shared analysis of the data ensures that together, we can achieve our goal to end breast cancer faster.