The Winship Cancer Institute (WCI) will formally
dedicate its new facility on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at a 2 p.m. ceremony
that will feature remarks from both Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and
Emory President Jim Wagner.
The 280,000-square-foot building, which began serving patients in
July, is designed as a “pavilion” in which cancer patients,
doctors, nurses and scientists are all brought together under one
roof, said WCI Director Jonathan Simons.
“Our new building will serve as a discovery accelerator,”
Simons said, “where care of cancer patients is advanced through
groundbreaking discoveries in genomics and molecular medicine. This
building reflects Emory’s commitment of energy and resources
to improving cancer prevention, treatment and care for all Georgians.
The successful NCI grant enables us to continue putting that commitment
into action.”
The dedication comes on the heels of a Sept. 2 announcement by Perdue
and Michael Johns, executive vice president for health affairs,
that WCI had been awarded a $1.9 million National Cancer Institute
(NCI) Planning Grant. The grant is a critical first step in attaining
Georgia’s first-ever NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center designation,
which long has been a strategic objective of the state’s innovative
cancer initiative.
The grant, known as a P-20 grant, will provide a minimum of $250,000
each year for five years to the WCI. NCI established the competitive
P-20 grant to provide promising cancer centers assistance in establishing
the research programs that are required for the NCI Comprehensive
Cancer Center designation.
“This grant is an important step in the NCI designation process,”
Johns said. “NCI provides these grants only to academic centers
that meet high qualitative and quantitative standards in cancer
research and community outreach.”
“We are very excited,” Perdue said. “[This] means
we can continue to develop research collaborations among physicians,
scientists and health care professionals throughout the state for
the benefit of every Georgia citizen.”
The next step in the NCI process is submission of a P-30 grant,
which if funded will be another major hurdle cleared in gaining
Comprehensive Cancer Center designation. Such a designation would
be a first for Georgia and would provide tangible benefits to Atlanta
and the state through increased access to important clinical trials
not previously available, and a greater emphasis on community education
regarding cancer prevention and early detection.
The NCI Centers Program looks at each institution’s particular
capabilities and how those capabilities can contribute to advancing
scientific research and a better understanding of cancer. According
to NCI, there are 61 designated centers in the United States, of
which only 39 are “comprehensive.”
“What is unique about Georgia is the state’s substantial
commitment of tobacco settlement funds through the Georgia Cancer
Coalition,” Johns said. “The coalition will serve to
make the NCI program funding more efficient by developing a statewide
network of research centers that will collaborate on investigations
and develop clinical trials accessible to all Georgians. Most major
advances in cancer treatment have been realized through clinical
trials.”
Simons will serve as planning director for the five-year grant.
After joining Emory in February 2000, Simons developed an aggressive
recruiting plan to attract physicians and scientists to Emory and
the WCI and to increase the level of peer-reviewed, NCI-funded scientific
research; both were key elements in obtaining the P-20 grant. In
the three years since Simons’ arrival, 25 new Emory and WCI
faculty members—many of whom have been designated as Distinguished
Scientists by the Georgia Cancer Coalition—have brought nearly
$45 million in federal and foundation grant money to Georgia for
cancer research. In addition, 19 new clinical trials are now available
to cancer patients.
Thomas Lawley, dean of the School of Medicine, said the WCI is poised
to make a true difference in the war on cancer. “WCI’s
ability to leverage Emory’s resources as a major scientific
research university with its strength in social sciences, public
health, nursing and statistics will result in customized, patient-centered
therapies not available elsewhere in Georgia,” Lawley said.
“The scientists, physicians and health care professionals
who are developing WCI’s cancer programs will impact cancer
research and treatment throughout Georgia, the Southeast and the
nation.”
|