At Vanderbilt-Ingram, the human touch is crucial. Here, David Johnson, M.D., chats with breast cancer survivor Janice Ingram. (photo by Francis Gardler)
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, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Center for Cancer Genetics and Genomics.