Oncology Models Forum (OMF)

Image of the Oncology Models Forum — 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 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.

News and Highlights

OMF investigators published a perspective in JNCI entitled “Precision preclinical modeling to advance cancer treatment” that arose out of an annual OMF meeting.

Drs. Adrian Lee and Steffi Oesterreich validated a set of Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC) patient-derived xenograft models that reflect important molecular and histologic features of human ILC. These models should help researchers study ILC biology, understand why the disease behaves differently from other breast cancers, and test potential targeted therapies.

Dr. Yi Li developed rat models of ER-positive breast cancer that closely resemble human disease in tissue structure, hormone response, and immune environment. The same mutations in mice produced ER-negative tumors, highlighting important species differences. The work shows that rats can model certain human cancers more accurately than mice and may improve studies of tumor biology and treatment response.

OMF Funding Opportunity

PAR-24-306: 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
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory	Lloyd C. Trotman, Scott K. Lyons	Whole body redox maps for metastatic cancer therapy
Duke University	Ming Chen	Engineering large chromosomal deletions in mice to advance precision oncology
Henry Ford Health and Michigan State University Health Sciences	Jennifer B. Jacob, Benjamin L. Kidder	Defining cancer intervention targets by functional genomics analysis of outbred F1 mice
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai	Daniela Sia, Anna Tocheva	Organoid-immune cell culture modeling of therapeutic responses in cholangiocarcinoma
J. David Gladstone Institutes	Karin Pelka	A spatial profiling-based immune hub perturbation platform to improve immunotherapy in colon cancer
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
Massachusetts General Hospital	Andrew Liss, Ralph Weissleder	Pancreatic cancer patient-derived xenograft tumors for translational studies in precision medicine
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	Jesse J. Smith	Expansion of tumoroid models for precise treatment of the rectal cancer patient
Northwestern University	Priyanka Gopal	Determine genotypic, phenotypic and evolutionary trajectories of treatment resistance to radiotherapy
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center	Qiang Li	Modeling neuroendocrine bladder cancer for studying the pathogenesis and improving chemotherapy responses
Tufts Medical Center	Iris Z. Jaffe, Cheryl A. London	Credentialing a cross-species platform to investigate cancer therapy-associated cardiovascular toxicity
Tufts University Boston	Heather L. Gardner, Ryan D. Roberts	Validation of a canine cancer model of early genetic detection of treatment failure and directed systemic intervention to improve outcomes in cancer patients
Tufts University Boston	Cheryl A. London, Alexander Bick, Elinor Karlsson	Modelling the dynamics of spontaneous clonal hematopoiesis in pet dogs during cancer therapy
University of Alabama, Birmingham	Deeann Wallis Schultz, Robert A. Kesterson	Loss of NF1 drives hormone dependent mammary carcinogenesis in a rat model with intact immune system
University of Alabama, Birmingham	Christopher R. Miller, Frank Furnari, Donald M. O'Rourke,	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, Davis	Christine M. Toedebusch	Correlating the clinical and molecular features of canine high-grade glioma for improved translation to human high-grade glioma
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 Francisco	Rosemary J. Akhurst, Allan Balmain	A network approach to interrogate cellular plasticity and drug resistance in cancer
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 Colorado Denver	Meredith A. Tennis	Modeling lung squamous cell carcinoma premalignancy and prevention
University of Florida	Jong H. Kim	Naturally occurring canine hemangiosarcoma as a translational model for angiosarcoma
University of Georgia	Shaying Zhao, William Hildebrand	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 Michigan	Christina V. Angeles	Preclinical mouse models of liposarcoma for immuno-oncology applications
University of Minnesota	Peter M. Gordon, Craig A. Byersdorfer	Development of autologous humanized leukemia models for immunotherapy testing
University of Nebraska Medical Center	Michael A. Hollingsworth, Joshua M.V. Mammen	Porcine platforms for technology development in pancreatic cancer
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	Terence P. Gade	Validation and credentialing of patient-derived xenograft models of hepatocellular carcinoma using patient level data
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 Pittsburgh	George C. Tseng, Adrian V. Lee	Single-cell congruence evaluation and selection of cancer models towards precision medicine
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center	Ling Cai	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 Utah	Arabella Young	Generation of syngeneic, mutation-driven melanomas in an autoimmune-prone mouse to improve therapeutic efficacy without immunotoxicity
University of Wisconsin, Madison	Randall J. Kimple	Improving the translational value of head and neck cancer patient-in-mouse models
Washington University in St. Louis	Jeffrey A. Magee, Jeffery M. Klco	Cross-species development and credentialing of pediatric AML models
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

Past Projects

Institution	Principal Investigator(s)	Project Title
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center	H. Leighton Grimes, Stephanie Halene,	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	Joshua C. Snyder	Visualizing tumor heterogeneity in an immune intact and autochthonous mouse model of breast cancer
Emory University	Nicholas M. Boulis, Peter Canoll	Lentiviral-induced swine model of spinal cord glioma
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
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
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
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	Nalin Gupta	Myeloid cells and radiation-induced memory deficits in rodent glioma model: sex and age effects
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
Yale University	Nikhil Joshi	Developing translationally-relevant genetically engineered mouse models of lung adenocarcinoma for investigations in cancer immunology