VICC Milestones
Built on a strong foundation of basic and clinical work in cancer and a cornerstone of generosity from the A.B. Hancock family, the Henry and Joyce families and others, the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center has achieved a long list of accomplishments since it was created in 1993. They include:
- Earning initial National Cancer Institute designation (clinical cancer center) in only two years.
- Joining an elite group of NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in 2001 (only 39 nationwide). This grant/designation was renewed in 2004 with score of 137, in the “outstanding” category.
- Building a strong relationship with the music industry, including the T.J. Martell Foundation, with the establishment of the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories.
- Naming for the late E. Bronson Ingram with the launch of the Imagine A World Without Cancer campaign, which raised more than $180 million to support people and programs.
- Creation of departments in Cancer Biology, Biostatistics and Thoracic Surgery.
- Development of strong program in cancer epidemiology including three large cohorts (Southern Community Cohort, Shanghai Men's and Women's Cohorts)
- Recruitment of more than 125 new faculty and retention of key faculty
- Award of 20 Ingram professorships
- Endowment of six new chairs
- Development of a clinical trials affiliate network, now with more than a dozen members in five states
- Seeing senior faculty as leaders of major national cancer organizations, including David Johnson, M.D., (ASCO); Lynn Matrisian, Ph.D., (AACR); and Hal Moses, M.D., (AACI).
Numerous honors for faculty, including:
- Two Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Awards
- Two AACR/Rosenthal Award winners
- The AACR/Landon Prize
- Two PEW Scholar awards to Center members
- MERIT awards to 10 center members, two from NCI (of 17 total awards to 16 investigators).
Award of major NIH collaborative grants and distinctions including:
- Three Specialized Programs of Research Excellence in lung, GI and breast cancers. The GI SPORE received the best score in the country in its recent competitive renewal.
- Minority Institution/Cancer Center Partnership with Meharry and recent competitive renewal with the best score in the country.
- Digestive Disease Research Center
- Tumor Microenvironment Network
- Clinical Proteomic Technology Assessment for Cancer
- Mathematical Models for Cancer Invasion
- Strategic Partnering to Evaluate Cancer Signatures
- Vanderbilt In Vivo Imaging Center
- Southern Community Cohort Study
- Digestive Disease Research Center
- Mouse Models Consortium
- NCI Phase I and Phase II clinical trial agreements.
Establishment of major new donor-supported research initiatives, including:
- Jim Ayers Institute for Pre-Cancer Detection and Diagnosis
- Frances Williams Preston Laboratories of the T.J. Martell Foundation
- Robert J. Kleberg and Helen C. Kleberg Center for Cancer Genetics and Genomics.
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