Mission
The mission of the Division of Cancer Biology (DCB) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is to ensure continuity and stability in basic cancer research while encouraging and facilitating the emergence of new ideas, concepts, technologies and possibilities. DCB strives to achieve this goal by promoting a balance between the continued support of existing research areas and selective support of emerging research areas. Providing guidance, advice, funding information and financial support to grantees and applicants maintains continuity while reducing their administrative burden. The expansion of new research areas is encouraged through a range of initiatives and funding mechanisms sponsored by the DCB. The scientific discoveries from this research base are critical to the goal of the NCI since they form the intellectual and scientific foundation on which strategies for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer are developed.
Division Function
The overall responsibilities of the six branches of the DCB include: (1) providing scientific management of a portfolio of grants, cooperative agreements, hand contracts in areas relevant to cancer biology; (2) facilitating investigator-initiated research by working with individual investigators, professional societies, and research institutions to provide information, advice, and guidance on opportunities for research support; (3) identifying and addressing needs in scientific areas, through discussions, meetings, workshops/conferences, and a variety of mechanisms of support and assistance; (4) communicating to scientists areas of special interest and scientific opportunity; (5) reporting on scientific progress and program accomplishments to the scientific community, the Institute, the Congress, and the public; (6) providing stewardship of the Federal investment in biomedical research; and (7) establishing program priorities that promote the opportunities identified in the NCI Plan and Budget
The objectives of the DCB research program are accomplished through a variety of Federal extramural support mechanisms “Everything you wanted to know about the NCI Grants Process” including: traditional research project grants (R01), program project grants (P01), cooperative research project grants (U01), Method to Extend Research in Time Awards (MERIT; R37), Academic Research Enhancement Awards (AREA; R15), exploration/development grants (R21/R33), conference grants (R13), small research grants (R03), and DCB Activities to Promote Research Collaborations (APRC) supplements.
The Role of the Program Director
Program Directors have the primary responsibility for the scientific management of a significant grant research portfolio related to their area of cancer biology expertise. Unlike traditional bench scientists, they support programmatic science. Scientific Credentials Program Directors in DCB are all scientists with significant research experience. Most have productively and successfully directed independent research programs. All Program Directors have an appreciation of both science and the demands of a scientific career. Program Directors remain experts in their areas of cancer biology and actively facilitate initiatives that require an appreciation of the relevant new developments, trends, and controversies, as well as emerging new technologies, models, and resources. Program Directors stay abreast of scientific advances by attending scientific lectures and national conferences, discussing science with grant applicants and grantees, reading the scientific literature, and participating in various DCB, NCI, and NIH seminar series. In addition, NIH requires that Program staff maintain an up-to-date knowledge of NCI and NIH administrative policies and procedures related to research administration. Program Directors routinely attend specialized training classes, for example, in the rules for use of human subjects and animals in research, or ethical considerations for Federal employees, and the use of new electronic databases and systems. Supporting the Scientific Community DCB Program Directors are the focal point of interaction between cancer biologists in the extramural community and the NCI. Program Directors play a dual role, serving as the investigators’ advocates to the NCI/NIH and as representatives of NCI to the investigators. These interactions span the life cycle of the grant.