The Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University
is one of the nation’s oldest NCI-designated cancer centers (1974).
CCCWFU recently celebrated its 30th year of delivering quality patient
care, providing education and outreach to individuals at risk for developing
the disease, and achieving excellence in basic science research. Our
center was conceived and developed as the central core of a community-wide
research effort in clinical trials and cancer control. We have a tradition
of outreach to communities and area physicians, touching the five-state
region which borders western North Carolina.
We are committed to improving the health of special
populations within this region through understanding issues related to
cancer care of underserved rural and urban populations in isolated pockets
of the Appalachian Mountains, rural agricultural communities, and urban
areas. As a Comprehensive Cancer Center, we have placed priority upon
addressing cultural and demographic issues which create barriers to quality
cancer care among African Americans, our rapidly growing Hispanic population,
and two Native American Indian Tribes (Eastern Cherokee and Lumbee).
A key component of our research and clinical care
operations is translating the research of investigators
into applied care and treatment,
improving the survival and quality-of-life of our
patients. Our translational research efforts are
organized differently from other Cancer Centers.
We have structures within the Cancer Center called
Centers of Excellence (COEs) and the job of these
centers is to pull together researchers in
the clinical, basic and prevention/genetic sciences
along disease-specific themes. Specifically, their “job description” is
to strengthen scientific creativity and applicability
through interaction among disciplines.
We have found this approach leads to unique translational
insights, resulting in more effective care and
treatment. In addition, we are an NCI-supported
Research Base which allows participating centers
around the country rapid access to innovative therapeutic
trials developed by our investigators.
The center leadership is a diverse group of cancer
researchers, including chairs or section heads of Biochemistry, Pathology,
Radiation Oncology, Radiation Biology, Hematology and Oncology, Surgical
Oncology, Urology, Regenerative Medicine, and the Wake Forest Nanotechnology
Center. We have over one hundred scientific members. Our size and committed
Cancer Center leadership has created an environment of camaraderie and
intense scientific interaction. This provides added value to cancer center
members and helps us to play a significant role as a member of the national
team of Comprehensive Cancer Centers designated to end the suffering
and death due to cancer. |
