Bogdan A Czerniak, M.D., Ph.D.

The goal of the proposed research is to construct a genome-wide map of bladder cancer development from occult in situ changes to clinically aggressive disease. Specifically, this grant, when completed, will provide unique information on the genomic changes associated with early cancer development, using one of the most frequent cancers arising in the bladder as a model disease. I have both the leadership and broad expertise in molecular pathology, in particular of human bladder cancer pathogenesis, necessary to successfully carry out the work proposed in this grant. As PI of several NCI funded grants and as a member of NCI’s Early Detection Research Network and SPORE programs, I garnered experience in grant administration and network collaborations that laid the ground work for the proposed research. The recombination-based and limited high resolution genomic map of bladder cancer development from in situ neoplasia which was constructed in my laboratory with the use of whole-organ histologic and genetic mapping strategy provides the conceptual foundation for this proposal. My decade spanning professional associations with the biostatistician, Keith Baggerly, and Steve Scherer, the Director of the mapping laboratory at the Human Genome Sequencing Center at the Baylor College of Medicine, who are Co-Investigators on this grant, will provide additional expertise critical to the successful completion of this grant. In summary, I have a demonstrated record of successful and productive research in the genomic mapping of bladder cancer that has provided new insights into the molecular mechanisms of early human carcinogenesis and have prepared me to lead the proposed project.