Grant Number:	5R35CA283926-02 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Mandelblatt, Jeanne
Organization:	Georgetown University
Project Title:	Investigations Connecting Cancer and Aging (I-Connect)
Fiscal Year:	2024

With advances in screening and treatment, cancer is becoming a chronic disease. By 2030, there will be 22 million cancer survivors living in the US and three-quarters of these survivors will be ages 65 and older. Over the life course, aging increases the risk of developing cancer through accumulated damage and mutations. Cancer and its therapies, in turn, can be disease drivers of additional aging, leading to long-term effects on quality of life and function, other chronic diseases and heterogeneity in population health outcomes. At present, we lack sufficient data about the complex bidirectional relationships between cancer and aging, leaving survivors and their oncology teams with insufficient evidence to guide care. The vision for this Outstanding Investigator Award is to use a unique cancer and aging laboratory spanning basic, clinical and population science to improve the health of cancer survivors. The broad goal of this laboratory is to collaborate across disciplines to study the bidirectional relationships between cancer and aging and use that knowledge to discover mechanistic pathways that can be leveraged to design, deliver and evaluate interventions to maintain and improve the health of cancer survivors. To achieve these goals, we use an overarching conceptual model that integrates knowledge about chronic disease, oncology and geroscience with tools from epigenetics,-omics analyses, machine learning and mediation, meta-synthesis and simulation statistical methods to: 1) evaluate how heterogeneity in biological aging processes and system dysregulation affect cancer and aging health outcomes in population cohorts, 2) identify mechanistic pathways suggested by cohort results and test the impact of interventions targeting those pathways in preclinical models of cancer survivorship and 3) apply results to clinical oncology care. During my continuously NIH-funded research career, I have made practice-changing contributions that support my proposed research program. There are few population scientists with the unique background and proven track record to successfully conduct this in-depth research program spanning the full scientific continuum from preclinical to cohort studies and clinical practice. Collaboration with scientists from outside my discipline will support my success and generate novel insights. The newly established Georgetown Lombardi Institute on Cancer and Aging REsearch (I-CARE) that I lead and exceptional institutional commitment and infrastructure provide an exceptional environment. This Outstanding Investigator Award provides the stability needed to accelerate knowledge in an important new research area with high public health significance and clinical relevance. Identification and testing of aging mechanistically-based interventions will support efforts to tailor clinical care and could change approaches to cancer survivorship and chronic disease management.





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