One of my goals as interim director is to maintain the momentum of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. I'm honored to have this opportunity to guide the Cancer Center through a time of change and transition. The Cancer Center is a team of committed, talented clinicians and scientists who are dedicated to working together to provide the highest quality patient care and to pursue cutting-edge cancer research that will have the greatest impact on preventing cancer and treating patients with the disease.

In this, our second issue of Momentum, we continue to highlight the expert level of patient care and scientific excellence here at Vanderbilt-Ingram. In Tennessee, and across the country, we're seeing debate and legislation over smoking in public places and the serious health consequences of secondhand smoke. You'll meet a courageous patient with end-stage lung cancer who found hope at Vanderbilt-Ingram.

You'll learn about Vanderbilt-Ingram's role in a national effort to investigate the tumor microenvironment. We're taking a closer look at just how important the non-tumor cells surrounding a tumor are when we determine how to treat a tumor. The research is funded through a new type of grant awarded to Vanderbilt-Ingram by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for $1.3 million a year for the next five years.

We'll share research progress from several laboratories in our NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. It is in these laboratories where some of the brightest minds in cancer research spend their days, and often nights, studying tumor samples, proteins, and the delicate connections that play a role in how cancer begins, grows and spreads. We'll introduce you to a researcher who has been hard at work for three decades.

You'll also learn more about the vital role of a pathologist – the medical doctor tasked with diagnosing disease from blood, tissue and body fluid. A pathologist's diagnosis is one of the first steps in cancer care. Their initial report will set in motion a plan of attack, yet patients typically never meet these behind-the-scenes members of the treatment team.

One of our own staff members, Linda McVay, will share her personal story of becoming a stem cell donor and meeting her recipient for the first time, after spending years coordinating the donor program for Vanderbilt-Ingram. She'll explain how you can become a donor and offer a cancer patient a second chance at life.

You'll also meet a few volunteers that make the Henry-Joyce Cancer Clinic a more welcoming and comforting place for our patients and their loved ones – from the college student serenading patients and healing tired souls with a song from the piano, to the longtime community member who sits and talks with patients who know him by name and look forward to his warm smile. These people give of themselves to offer some simple comforts that help ease the burden of a difficult time in our patients' lives.

We hope these stories inspire you, spark dialogue about cancer-relevant issues, and motivate you to get involved in the fight against the disease.

Editor's Note: Jennifer Pietenpol, Ph.D., Ingram Professor of Cancer Research and professor of Biochemistry, was selected earlier this year to lead the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center as interim director while a national search is under way.