Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), under the Cancer Biology Research program (CFDA 93.396), awarded a $668,362 Project Grant to The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco on July 7, 2026, with a completion date of June 30, 2031. This five-year award supports fundamental cancer biology research focused on decoding ribosomal RNA (rRNA) modifications and their role in cancer development and progression. The research will investigate how cancer cells exploit the translation machinery through small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) that guide rRNA modifications, with particular emphasis on how oncogenic signals such as RAS dysregulate these modifications to promote cancer cell fitness, evade tumor-suppressive mechanisms, and reprogram lipid metabolism pathways critical to cancer development.

The research program will deliver systematic analysis of snoRNA function across multiple cancer types, including liver and colon cancer, with deliverables encompassing mechanistic and biochemical characterization of how specific snoRNAs control selective translation of metabolic transcripts and influence global protein synthesis. The project combines expertise from collaborative research laboratories to establish the breadth of rRNA modification dysregulation across distinct human cancers and will contribute fundamental knowledge on mechanisms underlying tumor development, progression, and therapeutic resistance. This work addresses a significant gap in understanding post-transcriptional RNA modifications as hallmarks of cancer biology and potential targets for intervention.