University of Arizona Cancer Center - Cancer Center Support Grant

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Project Summary / Abstract: Overall The University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC) in Tucson, Arizona has been an NCI-designated Cancer Center since 1978 and a Comprehensive Cancer Center since 1990. It was founded as a matrix center within the University of Arizona (UA), and its members represent 43 Colleges and 11 Departments. In 2014, the UACC was elevated to a status equivalent to that of a College, reporting directly to the Senior Vice President of Health Sciences. At this time, Andrew S. Kraft, MD, was appointed Director of the UACC. With authority for all cancer-related activities at the UA, he is spearheading the utilization of the significant Institutional support to enhance the Program. This includes the recently completed $100M 220,000 square foot outpatient clinic in Phoenix, which will greatly enhance translational research, an expansion of basic research space with occupancy of 20,000 square feet within two years, and an Institutional Commitment of $232M dollars over the next five years. The functionality of the Center has been enhanced by optimization of the Administration and Senior Leadership infrastructure. The UACC Strategic Plan for 2015–2020 calls for the continuation of the highly innovative and impactful team science based on four robust cornerstone Programs: Cancer Biology, Cancer Imaging, Therapeutic Development, and Cancer Prevention and Control. Strategic recruitment and pilot funding is focused on team building, including development of inter-programmatic collaborations and movement of research into the clinic. The UACC will continue to invest in its eight integrated Shared Resources that enhance the capabilities of UACC investigators in basic, prevention, translational, and clinical research, and another in development. The Clinical Trials Office has been strengthened, and investments supporting precision medicine initiatives are ongoing. The UACC is the only major academic Cancer Center in a 400 square mile area of driving distance and is committed to serving the residents in this region and its direct catchment area of southern Arizona. Thus, it has a focus on skin cancer and arsenic exposure as well as the needs of Hispanics, Native Americans, the elderly, and the economically disadvantaged. It has established a robust infrastructure of international, national, and regional collaborations and outreach programs together with research spanning epidemiology, genetics, epigenetics, cell biology, and signaling mechanisms, as well as targeted interventions and understudied survivorship issues. To capture the emerging synergies, the positions of Associate Director of Cancer Disparities and Associate Director of Precision Medicine and Bioinformatics have been created and filled by nationally recognized experts. The UACC emphasis on inclusive training of the next generation of cancer researchers has had demonstrable success in graduation of Native American and Latinos. The research generated by UACC members is characterized by its impact, its relevance to the catchment area, and its innovation. The Strategic Plan builds on the work that has resulted in 1,756 cancer- related publications in the reporting period and its current portfolio of $44M in peer-reviewed support.