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The IU Cancer Center again has been recognized as a premier cancer center by the National Cancer Institute with the renewal of its clinical cancer center designation and a four-year, $4.9 million grant.
The IU Cancer Center first received the prestigious NCI designation in 1999. Centers must be reviewed periodically to determine if they continue to meet the strict criteria required of clinical cancer centers.
The recognition by the NCI of our cancer center grant reaffirms and supports the quality of our cancer research and treatment and means that we are one of the elite institutions in the country,” said Dr. Stephen Williams, director of the IU Cancer Center and the H.H. Gregg Professor of oncology at the IU School of Medicine (IUSM).
Grant funding awarded to IU cancer researchers has continued to grow in recent years. Since the original NCI designation was awarded, research dollars have nearly doubled; total research grants expected in 2004 is $59 million, compared to $29.4 million in 1999. The membership of the IU Cancer Center has doubled since the initial NCI designation, with 150 current researchers, oncologists and nursing specialists. Only 61 institutions currently hold NCI Clinical Cancer Center designations. The IU Cancer Center is the only one in Indiana so recognized, but shares NCI honors with Purdue University, which is designated as a basic scientific research center.
“The researchers, physicians and other health care professionals who comprise the IU Cancer Center are dedicated to finding answers to the cause of cancer and to improving the quality of life of patients through their research,” said Dr. Craig Brater, dean of IUSM. “This recognition is much deserved but it is the cancer patients who are the real winners because they will reap the benefits of the future research efforts stimulated by this grant funding.” Members and collaborators of the IU Cancer Center are on the faculties of the IU schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry and Allied Health Sciences, as well as the science departments at IU and Purdue University.
Cancer research at IU is possible through the support of organizations such as the Walther Cancer Institute, Riley Children’s Foundation through the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research, the Indiana Lions Cancer Control Fund, the Indiana Order of the Elks, Clarian Health Partners, the National Cancer Institute, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Vera Bradley Foundation and the Catherine Peachey Fund.
http://iucc.iu.edu/
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