The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) is committed
to assembling the best and brightest scientists, clinicians, and caregivers
to lead the ongoing effort to alleviate suffering from cancer through
pioneering research, compassionate care, and prevention. The VICC was
established in 1993 as the umbrella organization over cancer-related
research, clinical care and education at the Vanderbilt University Medical
Center in Nashville, Tenn. The VICC In 1995, it became a National Cancer
Institute-designated cancer center and, in 2001, the only NCI-designated
Comprehensive Cancer Center in Tennessee. Vanderbilt-Ingram emphasizes
individualized cancer care developed and delivered through a comprehensive,
multidisciplinary team approach, with particular strengths in lung, GI,
breast, and head and neck cancers, as well as melanoma and sarcoma. The
activities of the VICC are anchored in the Frances Williams Preston Building
and include the Henry-Joyce Cancer Clinic, inpatient units in Vanderbilt
Hospital and more than 120 laboratories throughout the University and
Medical Center. Pediatric cancer care is delivered in the freestanding
Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, listed among
the top 10 children’s hospitals in the country. The clinical volume
of the VICC has increased steadily over the years now reaching more than
40,000 outpatient visits annually with enrollment of more than 7,500
patients into clinical trials since 1998. Vanderbilt-Ingram offers more
than 200 clinical trials for adults and children at its main campus and
through 15 members of its Affiliate Network throughout Tennessee, Kentucky
and Georgia.
Its research enterprise emphasizes translational research
and builds on a strong legacy of basic science in growth factors and
signal transduction. It includes seven formal research programs covering
the areas of signal transduction and cell proliferation; host-tumor interaction;
gastrointestinal cancer; breast cancer; genomics and proteomics; cancer
prevention and control; and experimental therapeutics. Since its inception,
competitive NCI grant funding has grown more than six-fold to more than
$50 million per year; total annual research funding including private
sources tops $130 million. Vanderbilt-Ingram is home to three Specialized
Programs of Research Excellence (SPOREs) in breast, gastrointestinal
and lung cancers, a Digestive Disease Center, a Mouse Models of Human
Cancer Consortium grant, a Molecular Signatures in Lung Cancer grant,
several cohort grants, including the Southern Community Cohort Study,
and in collaboration with Meharry Medical College, an NCI partnership
grant to address racial and regional disparities in cancer incidence
and mortality. |
