History of the Cancer Center
Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been at the forefront of groundbreaking cancer research and treatment for decades. This history includes the work of Nobel laureates Earl Sutherland and Stanley Cohen, whose research in cell communication, growth and spread are the foundation of many of today's breakthroughs in cancer treatment.
Groundbreaking of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, 1993
Left to right: Dr. Roscoe R. (Ike) Robinson;
Dr. Harold L. Moses;
Mrs. A.B. (Waddell) Hancock Jr.;
Frances Williams Preston;
E. Bronson Ingram;
Edward G. Nelson;
Peggy Joyce; and
Dr. B.F. Byrd Jr.
Building on this rich legacy, the Vanderbilt Cancer Center was formally established in 1993, under the leadership of Dr. Hal Moses, to bring together all cancer-related research, treatment, education and outreach at Vanderbilt. The clear objective was to join the premier institutions designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Only two years later, the first major step toward that objective was accomplished, with an initial designation as a "clinical cancer center."
Another significant milestone occurred in 1999, when Nashville's Ingram family made a transformational gift in honor of the late E. Bronson Ingram, philanthropist, businessman and civic leader. Formally named the E. Bronson Ingram Cancer Center at Vanderbilt University, the center quickly became known as the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in recognition of this important partnership to eliminate the pain and suffering caused by cancer in Tennessee, in the United States and around the world.
In 2001, the center became the state's only facility to earn the NCI's highest distinction as a Comprehensive Cancer Center and one of only 39 in the United States. The center completed a successful competing renewal of that designation in 2004 and became one of very few cancer centers deemed through this rigorous, competitive peer-review as "outstanding" - the very best category in NCI grant scoring.
In 2005, Dr. Moses became director emeritus and remains an active senior faculty member and advisor. He also is director of the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories, supported by the T.J. Martell Foundation. Dr. Raymond DuBois took over the directorship in 2005 and during the next two years under his guidance, the center continued to flourish as one of the nation’s leading centers.
In 2007, DuBois was presented an opportunity to return to his native state of Texas as provost and executive vice president at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Vanderbilt-Ingram turned to one of its senior scientists, Jennifer Pietenpol, Ph.D., associate director for basic and translational research, to lead the center as its interim director.
During 2007, under Pietenpol's leadership, Vanderbilt-Ingram logged a number of key accomplishments, including being ranked No. 7 in competitive research funding from the National Cancer Institute, and being invited to join the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
In January of 2008, Pietenpol was named to lead the center as its permanent director.
