Research Programs

The Duke University Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Brain Cancer Promotes Rapid Advances

Darell D. Bigner, MD, PhD, Francis Ali-Osman, DSc, and Henry S. Friedman, MD,
lead the collaborative efforts of Duke's Brain Cancer SPORE, one of only four in the nation.

The Duke University SPORE (Specialized Programs of Research Excellence) in Brain Cancer Grant was awarded on September 1, 2004, for a five-year period. This grant is funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and administered by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The principal investigator is Darell D. Bigner, M.D., Ph.D., and the co-principal investigator is Francis Ali-Osman, D.Sc. The Duke Brain SPORE Program utilizes an Internal and External Advisory Board to provide administrative and scientific guidance.

The goal of this SPORE Program is to advance knowledge of brain tumor biology and etiology and to translate these into clinical protocols that represent significant and novel advances in the management of these therapeutically intractable tumors.

The Duke Brain SPORE grant consists of four research projects, five cores, a Developmental Research Program, and a Career Development Program.

To further the field of neuro-oncology research and to exchange knowledge and ideas, the Duke University Brain Cancer SPORE has a collaborative relationship with the Brain Cancer SPORE Programs at the University of California at San Francisco, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Mayo Clinic, and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

SPORE GUIDANCE

Developmental Research Program
Francis Ali-Osman, DSc, Chair
Margaret Harris and David Silverman Professor of Neuro-Oncology
Box 3156, Duke University Medical Center
199 Medical Sciences Research Building
Durham, NC 27710
919-681-5769
francis.aliosman@duke.edu

Career Development Program
Darell Bigner, MD, PhD, Chair
Edwin L. Jones, Jr. and Lucille Finch Jones Professor of Cancer Research
(Neuropathology)
Box 3156, Duke University Medical Center
177 Medical Sciences Research Building
Durham, NC 27710
919-684-5018
bigne001@mc.duke.edu

Brain Cancer SPORE Administrator
Rita Bigner
The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke
Box 2733, Duke University Medical Center
Hock Building, Suite G04, Room 048
2424 Erwin Road
Durham, NC 27705
919-684-4164
bigne003@mc.duke.edu

Brain Cancer SPORE Executive Committee
Darell D. Bigner, MD, PhD
Francis Ali-Osman, DSc
Henry Friedman, MD
Allan Friedman, MD
David Reardon, MD
John H. Sampson, MD, PhD