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Appointment InformationRESEARCH PLATFORM FOR
THE MOON SHOTS PROGRAM
The Translational Research to AdvanCe Therapeutics and Innovation in ONcology (TRACTION) platform is on a mission to accelerate the development of novel cancer medicines to answer unmet patient needs. The platform was built to address traditional challenges in oncology drug discovery, enabling innovative and collaborative research in order to quickly and safely bring novel treatment options to those patients most likely to benefit.
TRACTION is a core component of MD Anderson’s Therapeutics Discovery division, a unique group of clinicians, researchers and drug-discovery scientists working together to develop innovative treatment options, inspired by the needs of patients and guided by the unmatched wealth of expertise of MD Anderson physicians and researchers.
TRACTION scientists execute patient-driven translational research to advance a portfolio of novel therapeutic concepts into clinical trials. As a result of deep integration with MD Anderson investigators and the support of the Moon Shots Program® and its enabling platforms, TRACTION is making it possible to advance the most innovative therapies into clinical proof of concept studies in defined patient populations.
Tim Heffernan, Ph.D.
Executive Director and Head, Oncology Research
Joseph Marszalek, Ph.D.
Co-leader, TRACTION
Creating a cancer drug typically takes years of research and testing. Cancer patients deserve better.
The TRACTION team deploys a comprehensive approach that includes disruptive technologies, cutting-edge disease modeling and enhanced data analytics to accelerate the pace of drug development and inform clinical translation. TRACTION unites industry-seasoned professionals with highly successful academic scientists forming cross-functional teams all working toward a singular goal – bringing our patients new, highly effective options. These teams are organized into three groups:
TRACTION functions as a translational-research hub at MD Anderson, promoting relationships across the institution to support highly innovative science aimed at addressing unmet clinical needs. TRACTION also engages with biopharmaceutical companies to build meaningful collaborations that align with institutional strengths and have the potential to bring impactful new therapies to MD Anderson patients.
Through this multidisciplinary approach, TRACTION fosters team science that spans basic, translational and clinical science disciplines, where expertise across MD Anderson is leveraged to drive innovation around programs with the best chance of catalyzing transformative advances.
Boehringer Ingelheim and MD Anderson announced a new multi-year collaboration to conduct research to rapidly advance therapies for various types of cancer. The collaboration combines the unique patient-driven translational biology capabilities of TRACTION with the innovative pipeline of medicines from Boehringer Ingelheim to develop novel treatment strategies for patients.
Learn moreThe Therapeutics Discovery division at MD Anderson Cancer Center has advanced a new small-molecule inhibitor of cancer metabolism to Phase I clinical trials. The drug candidate, IPN60090, was first discovered and developed jointly by the Institute for Applied Cancer Science and TRACTION platforms, and is now being advanced in collaboration with Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals.
Cutting-Edge Translational Biology
The TRACTION platform is a state-of-the-art translational biology engine within MD Anderson, established to address the challenges of cancer drug discovery through innovative, collaborative research. Executive Director Tim Heffernan, Ph.D., spoke with Cancer Frontline about the platform and how it contributes to MD Anderson’s mission.
Using a novel computer-aided drug discovery approach, TRACTION scientists helped to discover that decitabine, an FDA-approved therapy for MDS and AML, may be effective in treating pancreatic cancers driven by mutations in the KRAS gene. This study provides rationale for investigating decitabine as a therapeutic option for these pancreatic cancer patients.
