Federal Project Grant Award Summary

New York University School of Medicine received a $169,500 Project Grant from the National Cancer Institute under the Cancer Treatment Research program (CFDA 93.395) awarded July 3, 2026, with completion targeted for June 30, 2028. The award supports a computational research initiative to investigate the role of LINE-1 (L1) retrotransposons in human diseases by mining patient data from the NYU Langone database, which encompasses approximately 4.8 million patient records. The research leverages reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitor treatment cohorts—including individuals treated with pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention—to identify disease associations linked to L1 activity and innate antiviral responses.

The project deliverables include comparative epidemiological analyses integrating NYU Langone patient data with molecular datasets from the CPTAC and TCGA databases to identify differences in disease incidence between RT inhibitor-treated and control cohorts. Statistical analyses will initially focus on previously documented L1-associated conditions including anemia development during pregnancy, prostate, mammary, and pancreatic cancers, with subsequent examination of autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, wound healing, and potential sex-specific effects. The research is designed to establish novel physiological and pathological mechanisms through which L1 retrotransposon activity contributes to human disease, with potential implications for therapeutic development in oncology and related disease areas.