Dear Colleagues:
As you know by now, we have been engaged in a process to modify our program structures so that we can respond effectively to the CCSG critique that resulted from our competitive submission in May, 2009. This process has involved many of you, and I am grateful for the many helpful suggestions and comments that I received. The exact names of the programs might change over the next month or so, but this general organization will be retained.
I am especially grateful to all of the program leaders who have served Lombardi during the recent CCSG submission and review process. They represented us and our science with dedication and worked very hard to accurately portray the science we do together. However, the process of peer review is rigorous and at times unforgiving, and in the reorganization and prioritization of our collaborative research activities some changes in program leadership were necessary.
The program designations (remember, the actual titles are still tentative) and program leaders are described below. CET represents a trimmed down and refocused evolution of the former 3DT program, and MO encompasses elements of the former MTTR, GRC and 3DT programs.
| Program | Leader |
| Breast Cancer (BC) | Bob Clarke, Claudine Isaacs |
| Clinical & Experimental Therapeutics (CET) | John Marshall, TBN |
| Molecular Oncology (MO) | Jeff Toretsky |
| Cancer Control (CC) | Marc Schwartz |
| Carcinogenesis, Biomarkers & Epidemiology (CBE) | Chris Loffredo |
Over the next month the program leaders will work together and with program membership to identify the 2-4 major themes that define each of their programs, and will establish interest groups around those themes. Leaders of each interest group will be identified and will function thereafter as program co-leaders. I fully expect that while each interest group will have a specific “home program,” some interest group members may be primarily based in other programs. This will stimulate inter-programmatic collaborations. These interest groups will meet regularly and will become collaborative scientific entities that spawn the specific aims of our next CCSG submission. During this time, some Lombardi members will be invited to switch their primary program affiliations based on the new programmatic emphases that emerge from this process.
This is a real opportunity to develop an organizational structure that accurately reflects the science we do, and positions us to successfully compete for multi-investigator grants. I look forward to this process with excitement.