COLUMBUS,
Ohio – The Ohio State
University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) has received a 5-year, $23
million core grant renewal from the National
Cancer Institute (NCI) to support its broad range of clinical, research and
educational programs focused on creating cancer-free world. This award follows
a rigorous review process by the NCI, including a site visit by 28 scientists
from other universities, which led to OSUCCC’s rating of “exceptional,” which is
the highest possible rating.
The
OSUCCC will retain its elite designation as an NCI “comprehensive” cancer
center, a coveted status held by only 41 institutions
nationwide. This is the largest core grant Ohio State
has ever received, and represents a 23.8 percent increase from the amount awarded
in 2005, which was the last time NCI reviewed Ohio State’s cancer program.
“This
award validates the remarkable cancer research being conducted at Ohio State,”
said Ohio State University President E.
Gordon Gee. “I am grateful of the recognition of the work of our NCI-funded
researchers, who collaborate across the University and across the nation to
find cures and give hope to thousands of people every day.”
Dr.
Michael Caligiuri, director of Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and
CEO of the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute said, “This core
grant is truly transformative and validates the commitment for resources
dedicated to cancer research across the spectrum at Ohio State. The money
provided to us by the NCI is critical for our infrastructure and facilitation
of groundbreaking research to prevent, detect, treat and cure cancer.” Through
Dr. Caligiuri’s vision and the hard work of many, the NCI reviewers wrote that
the OSUCCC is “the model for other matrix university-based centers.”
Ohio
State has been recognized with “comprehensive” status since 1976. The
designation is awarded only to cancer centers that show that they make
substantial research contributions in the all the critical areas of cancer
research, namely basic, clinical and population sciences. The center was
evaluated for scientific impact, improving cancer care and clinical trials
enrollment, and service to the community. For OSUCCC, the NCI reviewers
characterized these activities as “exceptional.”
The core grant is the major
funding source for scientific leadership and administration, and for shared
technology and services provided to more than 250 cancer researchers, representing
a vast number of disciplines from 11 of the 14 colleges at Ohio State.
The
core grant importantly stimulates the Ohio’s economy. Studies have shown that
for every $1 invested in scientific research and development research in the
Columbus metropolitan results in a more than $2 return.
“As we move forward building the new James
Cancer Hospital, this core grant funding will help us recruit the best and
brightest minds to Ohio State by leveraging our status as the only NCI
Comprehensive Cancer Center with a freestanding cancer hospital attached to an
academic medical center on the campus of one of the largest universities in the
country,” added Caligiuri.
The Ohio State University
Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J.
Solove Research Institute strives to create a cancer-free world by
integrating scientific research with excellence in education and
patient-centered care, a strategy that leads to better methods of prevention,
detection and treatment. Ohio State is one of only 41 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated
Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of only seven centers funded by the NCI to
conduct both phase I and phase II clinical trials. The NCI recently rated Ohio
State’s cancer program as “exceptional,” the highest rating given by NCI survey
teams. As the cancer program’s 210-bed adult patient-care component, The James
is a “Top Hospital” as named by the Leapfrog Group and one of the top 20 cancer
hospitals in the nation as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.
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Contact: Eileen Scahill, Medical Center
Public Affairs and Media Relations,
614-293-3737, or Eileen.Scahill@osumc.edu