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Oncology Models Forum (OMF)

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Oncology Models Forum

The Oncology Models Forum (OMF) was launched by the NCI in 2014 to fund research into advancing standard practices for modeling human cancers in mice and to facilitate collaborations, data sharing, and harmonization of mouse models. In 2016, the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) was expanded to all mammalian model systems (PAR-16-059) and has been re-issued in 2017 (PAR-17-245), 2020 (PAR-20-131), and 2023 (PAR-23-281).

Unlike many hypothesis-driven and mechanistic R01 projects, this program is devoted to ensuring mammalian models used for translational research questions are appropriate for those purposes and the models provide reliable and informative data for patient benefit. The OMF now includes a range of models including canine, porcine, organoid, and cell line models, in addition to many diverse mouse model systems.

OMF News and Highlights

Research Advances from the OMF

Mammalian models developed and validated through the OMF have advanced preclinical and translational cancer research studies. 

OMF Scientist Highlights: Drs. Rosemary Akhurst, Zev Binder, and Ling Cai 

Dr. Rosemary Akhurst is a Professor in the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCSF. Her laboratory studies chemically induced squamous cell carcinomas. In collaboration with Dr. Allan Balmain, a Professor in Cancer Genetics at UCSF, she is undertaking a cross-species investigation into mechanisms the drive the development of drug-resistant tumor cells. Using a model of skin chemical carcinogenesis, this project will explore features of drug resistance to understand how highly heterogenous treatment-resistant cancer cell populations develop and how they can be targeted. 

Dr. Zev Binder is a Research Assistant Professor in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and an NCI MERIT awardee. He combines in vitro and in vivo models of glioblastoma to explore new approaches to therapy. Dr. Binder is also developing a humanized mouse system to study the interactions of the immune system with brain tumors. 

Dr. Ling Cai is an Assistant Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She has built a user-friendly interactive analytical toolset to explore gene expression and clinical data from published datasets. Dr. Cai will further leverage these data to develop an informatics platform enabling comparative analyses to determine the fidelity of preclinical lung cancer models with human patient tumors.  

OMF Funding Opportunity

PAR-23-281 : Research Projects to Enhance Applicability of Mammalian Models for Translational Research (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

OMF Meetings

May 16, 2024 
Oncology Models Forum Spring Seminar (Virtual)

December 5-6, 2023
Oncology Models Forum Annual Meeting 

July 23, 2023 
Oncology Models Forum Summer Seminar

March 15-16, 2022 
Oncology Models Forum Annual Meeting

December 9, 2021
Oncology Models Forum Fall Seminar

July 27, 2021
Oncology Models Forum Summer Seminar

March 30-31, 2021
Oncology Models Forum Annual Meeting (Virtual) 

January 30, 2020
NCI Oncology Models Forum Meeting (NCI Shady Grove)

November 8, 2018
NCI Oncology Models Forum Meeting (University of California, San Francisco)

September 18-19, 2017
Immune Interventions in Oncology: A Think Tank on Modeling Opportunities using Mice and Human Specimens (NCI Shady Grove)

  • Cancer Tissue Engineering Collaborative (TEC) – supports the development and characterization of state-of-the-art biomimetic tissue-engineered technologies for cancer research. 
  • Human Cancer Models Initiative (HCMI) Catalog – Resource of patient-derived next-generation cancer models developed by HCMI, which is an international collaboration between NCI, Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, and Hubrecht Organoid Technology
  • NCI Mouse Repository – NCI-funded resource for mouse cancer models and associated strains
  • Oncology Model Fidelity Score – Uses the Hallmarks of Cancer to compare cancer animal models to human cancer
  • Single R – Analyzes cellular heterogeneity from single-cell RNA sequencing data
  • Xcell – Analyzes cellular heterogeneity from bulk gene expression data

Contacts for the OMF

For additional information about the OMF, please contact Dr. Joanna Watson or Dr. Christine Nadeau. 

Funded Projects

Institution Principal Investigator(s) Project Title
Baylor College of Medicine Yong Li Optimizing syngeneic mouse models to target mutant p53
Baylor College of Medicine Lanlan Shen Epigenetically engineered mouse model for lung cancer therapy
Baylor College of Medicine Xiang Zhang, Yi Li Next generation rat models of ER+ breast cancer
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Vassiliki A. Boussiotis, Alain Charest, Roel Verhaak Understanding the cellular and functional changes in the immune tumor microenvironment of glioblastoma during progression and treatments
Brigham and Women's Hospital Derin B. Keskin, Christopher A. French, Geoffrey I. Shapiro Genetically engineered mouse model to improve therapy of NUT carcinoma
Cedars Sinai Medical Center Jlenia Guarnerio Comparative modeling of sarcoma microenvironments for the discovery of biomarkers and tumor vulnerabilities
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Stephanie Halene, H. Leighton Grimes Modeling myelodysplasia
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine Jianjun Zhao New mouse model of cisplatin-induced AKI and development of prevention therapy
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Kevin Haigis Mouse models of Kras-mutant colorectal cancer
Duke University Ming Chen Engineering large chromosomal deletions in mice to advance precision oncology
Duke University Joshua C. Snyder Visualizing tumor heterogeneity in an immune intact and autochthonous mouse model of breast cancer
Emory University Peter Canoll, Nicholas M. Boulis Lentiviral-induced swine model of spinal cord glioma
Jackson Laboratory Vishnu Hosur Site-specific integration of large (10-100 kb) DNA constructs into the mouse genome and human induced pluripotent stem cells using the Cas9-Bxb1 integrase toolbox
Johns Hopkins University Richard B. Roden, Chien-Fu Hung Mouse modeling of HPV infection
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jesse S. Boehm Rapid ex vivo biosensor cultures to assess dependencies in gastroesophageal cancer
Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale Marta Chesi, Peter L. Bergsagel Preclinical optimization of BCMA directed T cell therapy
MD Anderson Cancer Center Giannicola Genovese Investigation of the role of epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity in renal cell carcinoma
MD Anderson Cancer Center Frederick F. Lang A novel adenoviral-permissive, immunocompetent hamster model to evaluate oncolytic adenoviral therapy for glioblastoma
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Scott W. Lowe Rapid and flexible precision oncology mouse models of epithelial malignancies epithelial malignancies
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Jesse J. Smith Expansion of tumoroid models for precise treatment of the rectal cancer patient
Northwestern University Daniel J. Brat Modeling the glioblastoma microenvironment to uncover progression mechanisms and therapeutic targets
Rockefeller University Stylianos Bournazos Novel transgenic mouse models addressing outstanding translational barriers in antibody-based therapeutics
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Mukund Seshadri Radiogenomic credentialing of head and neck cancer models
Tufts Medical Center Iris Z. Jaffe, Cheryl A. London Credentialing a cross-species platform to investigate cancer therapy-associated cardiovascular toxicity
University of Alabama, Birmingham Robert A. Kesterson, Deeann Wallis Schultz Loss of NF1 drives hormone dependent mammary carcinogenesis in a rat model with intact immune system
University of Alabama, Birmingham Donald M. O'Rourke, Christopher R. Miller, Frank Furnari Credentialing next-generation human glioma models for precision therapeutics
University of California, Davis Robert B. Rebhun Clinical, molecular, and immune characterization of naturally occurring osteosarcoma in dogs
University of California, Los Angeles Anthony P. Heaney Development of 3-dimensional human pituitary corticotroph tumor cultures as a preclinical model for drug discovery
University of California, San Diego Michael Karin A new mouse model for studying the pathogenesis and immunobiology of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and improving its immunotherapy
University of California, San Diego Michael Karin Highly penetrant and immunogenic mouse models of non-viral HCC that are suitable for evaluation of immune checkpoint inhibitors
University of California, San Francisco Allan Balmain, Rosemary J. Akhurst A network approach to interrogate cellular plasticity and drug resistance in cancer
University of California, San Francisco Nalin Gupta Myeloid cells and radiation-induced memory deficits in rodent glioma model: sex and age effects
University of California, San Francisco Eric Alejandro Sweet Cordero, Olena Morozova Vaske Development of advanced preclinical models for pediatric solid tumors
University of Colorado Denver Patricia Ernst, Terry J. Fry Escape from CAR T surveillance through lineage plasticity
University of Georgia William Hildebrand, Shaying Zhao Canine MHC-I genotyping and tumor specific neoantigen determination
University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester Elinor Karlsson, Cheryl A. London Leveraging canine spontaneous cancer to optimize the power of blood biopsy
University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester Wen Xue In vivo prime editing for precision cancer mouse models
University of Pennsylvania Zev Ari Binder Development and validation of an autologous mouse model for the study of immune interactions with glioblastoma
University of Pennsylvania Xiaowei Xu, Meenhard F. Herlyn Gamma delta T cell based melanoma therapies
University of Pittsburgh Steffi Oesterreich, Adrian V. Lee Credentialing models of invasive lobular breast cancer for translational research
University of Wisconsin, Madison Randall J. Kimple Improving the translational value of head and neck cancer patient-in-mouse models
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Ling Cai, Shidan Wang Construction of a lung cancer preclinical model cross-comparison platform
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Diego H. Castrillon Polymerase epsilon-based mouse and derived organoid models of intestinal cancer
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Diego H. Castrillon Polymerase-mediated ultramutagenesis and carcinogenesis in mice
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Hao Zhu Improving hepatocellular carcinoma mouse modeling by understanding the malignant potential and biology of liver cell subpopulations
Washington University in St. Louis Richard A. Flavell, Ryan C. Fields Advancing precision oncology in a humanized, fully autologous mouse model
Washington University in St. Louis Jeffrey A. Magee, Jeffery M. Klco Cross-species development and credentialing of pediatric AML models
Wayne State University  Jennifer B. Jacob, Benjamin L. Kidder Defining cancer intervention targets by functional genomics analysis of outbred F1 mice
Weill Cornell Medicine Lukas E. Dow In vivo base editing for precision oncology models
Weill Cornell Medicine Tan A. Ince Culture of tumor versus normal cells
Weill Cornell Medicine Dawid G. Nowak Novel mouse models for quantitative understanding of baseline and therapy-driven evolution of prostate cancer metastasis
Yale University Nikhil Joshi Developing translationally-relevant genetically engineered mouse models of lung adenocarcinoma for investigations in cancer immunology
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