Prostate Cancer Program 2023 Pilot Research Awards
Research Pilot Funding
The UCSF Prostate Cancer Program announces a call for applications for funds for pilot projects in prostate cancer research at UCSF. All areas of prostate cancer research at UCSF, including computational, laboratory, translational, clinical, and population sciences, are eligible for awards. This is the second cycle of funding in 2023.
Award Amount
- Up to $50,000 total, direct costs only
Key Dates
- Application deadline: November 15, 2023
- Award period: January 1, 2024 - December 31, 2024
Eligible Applicants
- UCSF Faculty, including Instructors and Adjunct Professors
- UCSF Learners/Trainees (e.g., Students, Residents, Fellows -- clinical and research) and non-Faculty (e.g., Specialists)
- Joint proposals by co-investigators are welcome
Priorities for Funding
Proposals in any of the following categories are especially encouraged:
- Early- to Mid-Career applicants (Trainee through Associate Professor)
- Translational research (T1-T3)
- Projects whose completion within 12 months is feasible.
- Projects with strong potential for subsequent peer-reviewed funding
Application Materials
Program News

150 Milestone: Robotic Procedure Changes Prostate Cancer Care

Personalizing Prostate Cancer Screening May Improve Accuracy of Detection

New Theranostic Approach Targets Prostate Cancer
Community Car Show Brings Cancer Screening Awareness to Mission Bay

A Q&A With Thomas Hope, MD on PSMA PET Imaging for Prostate Cancer

Newly Approved Prostate Cancer Scan Can Detect Cells that Have Spread to Lymph Nodes

UCSF Radiology and Radiation Oncology Researchers Join Forces to Study HP 13C MRI in Prostate Cancer Undergoing Radiation Therapy

UCSF, UCLA Gain FDA Approval for Prostate Cancer Imaging Technique

Largest-Ever Study of Prostate Cancer Genomics in Black Men IDs Potential Targets for Precision Therapies

UCSF Cancer Biologist Awarded $1 Million Grant From Prostate Cancer Foundation
Program Events
Upcoming Events
Prostate Cancer Program 2023 Annual Scientific Retreat
- Nov 3, 2023, 8am - 5pm
- This is an internal scientific meeting for the UCSF cancer research community. More details TBA!
2024 Patient Conference on Prostate Cancer
- Saturday, March 9, 2024 | Save the date!
Past Events
Prostate Cancer Program Research Seminar
Apr 5, 2023 | Speaker: Yulin Hswen, ScD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UCSF
Prostate Cancer Program Research Workshop
Feb 1, 2023 | Topic: Bench to Bedside Therapeutics in Prostate Cancer
2022 Patient Conference on Prostate Cancer
Oct 15, 2022 | For patients, families, caregivers, health care providers, and all those interested in information and tools to make informed decisions in prostate cancer.
Prostate Cancer Program Annual Scientific Retreat
Sept 23, 2022 | A hybrid (in person and virtual) retreat.
Prostate Cancer Program Research Workshop
Nov 17, 2021 | Topic: Beyond PSMA Lutetium Approval: the Unanswered Questions
HDFCCC Research Symposium: Challenges and Opportunities in Prostate Cancer Immunotherapy
June 30, 2021 | Jointly presented by the Cancer Immunology & Immunotherapy Program and the Prostate Cancer Program of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
2021 Patient Conference on Prostate Cancer
May 14, 2021 | Co-hosted by the California Prostate Cancer Coalition, this conference was designed to help patients think about their care, discuss their case with their own doctors and others, and join in effective informed decision-making.
Prostate Cancer Program Funded Research
- Jonathan Chou, MD, PhD
Inhibition as a Therapeutic Strategy for CDK12-Mutated Prostate Cancer - Erin Van Blarigan, ScD
Eating Better Together: Developing a Dyadic Dietary Intervention for Prostate Cancer Patients and their Partners - Meng Zhang, MSc, PhD
Investigation of Microproteins as Novel Druggable Targets in Prostate Cancer
Research Pilot Award Recipients (Round 1)
- Ivan de Kouchkovsky, MD
HP 13C MRI as an Early Response Biomarker to Androgen Deprivation Therapy Plus Abiraterone And Ipatasertib in Pelvic Node Positive Prostate Cancer - Arian Lundberg, MSc, PhD
Investigating the Association Between Microbiota Dysbiosis and Patient’s Survival in Advanced Prostate Cancer - Woogwang Sim, PhD
PTEN/TP53 Altered Prostate Cancer Has Unique Role for Tumor Associated Macrophages Upon Apalutamide Resistance
Research Pilot Award Recipients (Round 2)
- Arpita Desai, MD
PSMA PET as a Longitudinal Biomarker in Patients Undergoing Intensified Intermittent ADT - Nynikka Palmer, DrPH, MPH
PACE Yourself: Optimizing Patient-Centered Communication for Prostate Cancer Care in the Safety-Net - Samuel Washington III, MD, MAS
Understanding Association Between Social Risk and Guideline Concordant Treatment for Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer - Noah Younger, MD, PhD
Characterizing cPRC1 as a Mediator of Enzalutamide Resistance in Advanced Prostate Cancer
- Rebecca Graff, ScD
Metabolomic Disparities Between Black and White Men with Metastatic Prostate Cancer - Haolong Li, PhD
Investigating PTGES3 as a Novel Therapeutic Target in Advanced Prostate Cancer - Osama Mohamad, MD, PhD
Artificial Intelligence-Based Tools to Improve Decision Making for Patients with Prostate Cancer on Active Surveillance - Duygu Kuzuoglu Oztur, PhD
Elucidating the Roles of Different 5'UTRs of AR mRNA in Prostate Cancer - Jingjing Li, PhD
Single-Cell Analysis of Germline Mutations Conferring Population Disparities in Prostate Cancer - Li Zhang, PhD
Quantification of Adaptive Immune Response to Pembrolizumab for mCRPC Patients
- Nam Woo Cho, MD, PhD
Systematic Dissection of Anti-Tumor Immunity Against Mismatch Repair-Deficient Prostate Cancer - Crystal Langlais, MPH
Development and Examination of Post-Diagnostic Lifestyle Scores for the Prevention of Prostate Cancer Progression - Jingjing Li, PhD
Deep Learning to Identify the Altered Chromatin Architecture from Large-Scale Prostate Cancer Genomes - Ruhollah Moussavi-Baygi, PhD
An in-silico Functional Genomics Approach for Determining Drivers of mCRPC in Individual Patients - David Quigley, PhD
Etiology and Therapeutic Vulnerabilities of Hypermethylated Metastatic Prostate Tumors
- Rohit Bose, MD, PhD
Key Tumor Suppressors in Prostate Cancer Lacking ETS Fusions - MinKyu Kim, PhD and Jonathan Chou, MD, PhD
Mapping the Therapeutic Vulnerabilities of CDK12-Mutated Prostate Cancer - Renuka Sriram, PhD
Metabolic Characterization of Prostate Cancer Bone Metastatic Phenotypes Using Hyperpolarized 13C MRI - Improved Assessment of Therapeutic Response
- Mekhail Anwar, MD, PhD
A Microfabricated Imaging Platform for Intraoperative Detection of Microscopic Nodal and Margin Involvement in Prostate Cancer - Robert Flavell, MD, PhD
Boronated PSMA Neutron Capture Therapy for Treatment of Advanced Prostate Cancer - Luke Gilbert, PhD
Engineering an Expanded Therapeutic Window for Imaging and Treating Metastatic Prostate Cancer - Hani Goodarzi, PhD
Systematic Identification of Post-Transcriptional Regulatory Pathways that Drive Prostate Cancer - Jim Wells, PhD
Characterizing and Targeting the MYC Surface-ome in Advanced Prostate Cancer
Benioff Initiative for Prostate Cancer Research
The mission of the UCSF Benioff Initiative for Prostate Cancer Research is to understand the fundamental biology underlying aggressive prostate cancer and develop strategies that will lead to a cure for metastatic disease.