Brain Tumor SPORE Cores

Maciek S. Lesniak, MD (Core Director)
David James, PhD (Core Co-Director)
Amy Heimberger, MD, PhD (Core Co-Director)

The SPORE Administrative Core will provide the structure and oversight that facilitates scientific productivity and innovation and promotes collaborative activities for SPORE investigators. Through its functions and activities, this Core will serve as the central organizational hub for the Projects and Cores that will assist investigators in achieving their translational research objectives. The Administrative Core ensures that the SPORE is fully integrated into the administrative structure of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCC) at Northwestern. The Administrative Core will provide strong leadership for all components of the SPORE. 

Hui Zhang, PhD (Core Leader)
Feng Yue, PhD (Core Co-Leader)

The Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core (B&B Core) is a central component of the Brain Tumor SPORE, providing state-of-the-art integrated data science support to all Brain Tumor SPORE projects.  Database development and maintenance will provide a centralized resource for data tracking for preclinical studies, ensuring efficient reporting and statistical analysis of all experiments. In addition, clinical databases will be developed in conjunction with all project teams to complement existing clinical trial data registries at Northwestern and ensure custom data capture in a highly secure environment. Bioinformatics activities of the B&B Core are central to discovery and will help define new and significant research directions.  The large omics data sets that will be generated in the Brain Tumor SPORE Projects require specialized expertise for preprocessing, analysis and interpretation of molecular and biological consequences of genetic manipulations and treatments. Bioinformatics functionality provided by the B&B Core will provide this crucial assistance for all proposed Brain Tumor SPORE Projects. Biostatistical activities of the B&B Core are central to the concerns of rigor and reproducibility: by providing study design guidance, data management, statistical analysis and consultation for interpretation of results the core will see that reported results have been rigorously controlled and will be reproducible by others.

Craig M. Horbinski, MD, PhD  (Core Leader)
Daniel J. Brat, MD, PhD (Co-Leader)

The primary objective of the Biospecimen Core is to facilitate and enhance the impact of brain tumor research conducted by Northwestern University investigators by serving as the source of high-quality and well-annotated biospecimens, and by providing neuropathological consultation. The Core collects approximately 400 new tumors and matching blood every year from surgical procedures at Northwestern. This robust collection, and analytical services provided by the Core, have supported 126 research projects(including 10 clinical trials) from 49 investigators at Northwestern and outside institutions. The Core Director, Dr. Craig Horbinski, and Core co-Director, Dr. Daniel Brat, have and will continue to oversee Core activities that are of central importance to Northwestern Brain Tumor SPORE productivity. The Biospecimen Core is a vital resource that supports all brain tumor research at Northwestern and is especially important to ensure that all SPORE projects experience clinical translation. Through regular interaction with Project PIs and key investigators, as well as with the Administrative and Biostatistics &Bioinformatics Cores, the Biospecimen Core will help each project achieve its objectives and will have a positive impact on the care of brain tumor patients.