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UCSD CANCER CENTER RECEIVES
EXCELLENT NATIONAL REVIEW

Following an exhaustive review, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has given UCSD Cancer Center a resounding endorsement, and has awarded it a Cancer Center Support Grant of nearly $19 million over five years, the maximum grant period allowed. 

The award continues the cancer center’s NCI designation, which it has held continuously for 22 years.  This federal recognition means that UCSD Cancer Center meets the nation’s highest standards for conducting cancer research and providing high-quality clinical care incorporating the latest advances in the field.

“This is tremendous news,” said David Tarin, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UCSD Cancer Center.  “NCI designations are highly prized hallmarks of quality and are only awarded to cancer centers which meet stringent criteria defined by the nation’s highest cancer organization.

  NCI-designated Cancer Centers form the backbone of the nation's effort to reduce illness and death from cancer,” said Edward W. Holmes, M.D., UCSD vice chancellor for Health Sciences and dean of the School of Medicine.  “These centers combine research and clinical care to further our understanding of the causes of cancer, and to develop and bring to the community new and more effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.  We are fortunate to have such a nationally recognized center serving our region.

The grant helps to cover the costs of administering the center and operating its 12 core facilities, called shared resources.  These facilities provide sophisticated technical services to researchers throughout the center.

UCSD Cancer Center collaborates with other San Diego cancer research and health care institutions, as well as bioscience companies and community-based organizations to help make San Diego a healthier community.

The center includes more than 200 clinicians and researchers whose work ranges from fundamental cancer research in molecular genetics to the most advanced treatments, from drug discovery to pain and symptom control, and from population studies of cancer incidence to community education on prevention and early detection.  The interaction of these disciplines and approaches is known as translational research, the hallmark of an NCI-designated center.

“This award is a tribute to all of the people at UCSD Cancer Center and in the School of Medicine who contributed their time, talents and energy to our efforts to improve the care of cancer patients,” said Tarin.

Founded in 1979, the UCSD Cancer Center is one of just 60 centers in the United States to hold a National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation.  As such, it ranks among the top centers in the nation conducting basic and clinical cancer research, and providing advanced patient care.  The center's mission is to translate promising scientific discoveries into new and better options for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and the amelioration of mental and physical discomfort caused by this disease.