Federal Grant Award Summary

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc. received a $740,581 Project Grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847), awarded April 1, 2026, with completion targeted for January 31, 2031. The grant funds basic biomedical research investigating the niche regulation of gastric epithelial cell differentiation, specifically examining how distinct stomach cell types—pit cells, isthmus cells, neck cells, and chief cells—develop from multipotential progenitor stem cells and respond to signaling cues from sub-epithelial mesenchymal cells.

The research deliverables include mechanistic investigations into how bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling, canonical Wnt signaling, and niche-derived neuregulin-1 (NRG1) direct reversible phenotypic states in gastric epithelial cells, challenging conventional understanding of cell differentiation as an irreversible process. This basic research is intended to advance understanding of the mechanisms underlying gastric disease pathogenesis and inform potential preventive and therapeutic approaches to address defects in epithelial cell fractionation associated with pre-neoplastic conditions and other prevalent human gastrointestinal disorders. The research will be conducted at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's facilities in Boston, Massachusetts.