New Moores UCSD Cancer Center
Building to Open on East Campus

By Paul Mueller I April 4, 2005

Cancer Center Director Dr. Dennis Carson

After 25 years, the famed "center without walls" is about to get a roof. The Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center, whose offices have been scattered from Hillcrest to La Jolla, is ready to formally open a building that consolidates clinical, research and administrative services in a striking new architectural addition to the campus.

A dedication ceremony for the new building will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 8, at the building's East Campus Medical Center site near Thornton Hospital. University and community leaders, alumni, donors, students, faculty and staff are invited to attend. A reception will follow at 11 a.m., and tours of the facility will be conducted from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The new Moores Cancer Center building comprises two structures - a three-story clinical service and administrative facility and a five-story research tower. Together the buildings encompass 270,000 square feet and will house outpatient services, research labs, clinical trials offices, cancer prevention programs and community outreach activities.

Among its eye-catching architectural features are stainless-steel tiles that change color as the day progresses.

"This extraordinary new facility could not have been built without the generous philanthropy of far-sighted and civic-minded donors such as Rebecca and John Moores," said Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. "The UCSD and San Diego communities are indebted to them, to Miriam and Jerome Katzin, and to many others for their selfless gifts. Their contributions will help UCSD to enhance our proud traditions of education, scholarship, research and public service."

A $20 million philanthropic gift from John Moores, majority owner of the San Diego Padres and Regent of the University of California, and his wife, Rebecca, for the new building, is among the largest gifts from private individuals ever received by UCSD. A $15 million gift from Jerome and Miriam Katzin, longtime supporters and volunteers at UCSD, also allowed construction to go forward. The Katzin Research Laboratories, part of the new building, are named on their behalf.

Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences Ed Holmes, also dean of UCSD's School of Medicine, said the new facility's centralized services are an important development for cancer care in the region and will help advance scientific research in the field. "As a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center - the only one in San Diego County and one of 39 nationwide -- the Moores Cancer Center is at the forefront of new discoveries and new treatments. The new building helps us focus key resources more effectively, and offer ongoing hope for patients worldwide."

Cancer Center Director Dr. Dennis Carson sees opportunities for discovery and improved patient care in the state-of-the-art new building. "With research laboratories, clinical-trial resources and community outreach functions under one roof, we'll have an environment where basic discoveries can quickly be translated into promising new therapies," he said. "The facility advances our constant goal - to provide the best cancer care available."

Carson, a noted immunologist and cancer biologist, is a strong advocate of interdisciplinary collaboration and of building alliances with off-campus organizations, public and private. To that end, he has created an Industrial Relations Office within the Cancer Center and an Industry Advisory Board made up of leaders of the local biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

Founded in 1979, the UCSD Cancer Center grew as a broad collaboration among physicians and both basic and clinical researchers - all of them dedicated to improving methods of preventing, diagnosing and treating the nation's No. 2 killer. Doctors, researchers, staff and patients were scattered at locations across campus, with many forced to visit multiple sites for clinical work or treatment.

Expected to unite about 600 physicians, scientists and professional staff, the new Moores Cancer Center building features a patient-friendly interior design and a host of specialized areas and departments for advanced patient care:

	The Mary and Ron Taylor Lobby provides direct paths to all clinics and service areas.
	The pharmacy can fill retail or clinical prescriptions.
	The Ben and Sheri Kelts Bamboo Court is a tranquil, shaded court where patients and families can meet and talk.
	The Toby and Howard Cohen Healing Gardens give patients and families a variety of outdoors views and paths.
	The Katzin Research Labs, with each of five floors containing 7-12 independent research teams, are dedicated to leading-edge research and scientific collaboration.
	The Lee and Frank Goldberg Auditorium offers 110 seats and a reception area for conferences, seminars, lectures and patient-support groups.
	The Infusion Center is configured with patients’ comfort in mind, and overlooks the gardens.
	The Robin and William Comer Commons provides a living-room atmosphere for faculty, staff and visitor conversation and dining.
	The Charmaine and Maury Kaplan Mesa is an outdoor terrace with a view of the building’s iridescent stainless-steel tiles.

Radiation oncology, clinical research, shared resource, biostatistics/bioinformatics and imaging laboratories - as well as a Patient and Family Education Resource Center - reside within the striking new building, as well.

Because of the building's size and scope, move-in and launch of services will take place in phases, beginning in April.