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NSU’s AutoNation Institute for Breast and Solid Tumor Cancer Research is focused on developing and advancing improved methods of prevention and treatment, and eventual cures for various forms of cancer. We are dedicated to the greater understanding of cancer while expanding the knowledge base for the advancement of treatment. The ultimate goal is translating the discoveries from the lab into clinical progress at the bedside. 

NSU’s AutoNation Institute for Breast and Solid Tumor Cancer Research is housed in the university’s newly opened Center for Collaborative Research (CCR), one of the largest (215,000 sq. ft.) and most advanced research facilities in Florida, with state-of-the-art laboratories.

Our focus is:

• developing diagnostic and therapeutic cancer care strategies through basic research that can be translated to clinical trials for the cure of breast and solid tumor cancers,
• developing a tissue repository of solid tumors and creating tumor and matching non tumor adjacent cell lines for further investigation to generate targeted cancer therapies based on gene expression,
• evaluating the epigenetics (reversible genetic makeup) of cancer cells and determining possible uses of microRNA (the part of the genome that regulates gene expression) in blocking their ability to resist drugs, which could be used in future treatment protocols for metastatic disease and pharmacogenomics,
• testing chemicals included in a variety of commonly used consumer products to determine if there is a possible link to cancer, and educating the public and regulatory agencies of concerning findings, and
• using blood tests to check for specific biomarkers that could indicate if a patient is predisposed to cancer and assessing whether patients will be responsive to chemotherapy, and
• analyzing the origin of cancer based on ancestral and racial disparities in cancer outcomes.