Cancer Center Support Grant

Abstract: Overall The UPMC Hillman Cancer Center (HCC) at University of Pittsburgh is a matrix cancer center, currently led by Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, who has served as Director of HCC since 2017. With funding from the National Cancer Institute and other peer- and non-peer-reviewed sources, HCC conducts impactful basic, clinical/translational, and population science research that is changing the way we detect, diagnose, and treat cancer. Through our research and community outreach efforts, we address the needs and disparities of cancer patients and those who are at risk of developing cancer in our 29-county western Pennsylvania catchment area, and through our strong efforts in educating and training new cancer researchers and clinicians, we are ensuring that those needs will continue to be met in the years to come. HCC integrates the expertise and resources of the University of Pittsburgh, a top-5 institution in NIH funding, and UPMC, one of our nation’s largest health care systems, to provide our 280 members with state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, and numerous opportunities for interaction and collaboration. Organized into 7 research programs focused on Cancer Biology, Genome Stability, Cancer Virology, Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy, Cancer Therapeutics, Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, and Biobehavioral Cancer Control, our members published over 4,000 articles and enrolled more than 12,700 adult and pediatric patients onto interventional clinical trials from 2014-2018. These efforts were enabled by our 10 shared resources and extensive infrastructure for supporting clinical research at central academic and community network sites. HCC is guided by an experienced Senior Leadership Team of Deputy and Associate Directors who join Dr. Ferris in overseeing our science and operations. With input from the leaders of our research programs and other key HCC members, this team sets the vision and develops the strategic plan for our future development, which includes a new HCC-wide Administrative Core for supporting team science. Over the next 5 years, HCC aims to: 1) expand upon our existing scientific strengths; 2) augment our shared resources; 3) develop and implement strategies for reducing cancer-related health problems in our catchment area population; 4) increase transdisciplinary research in topics that include tumor genomics and precision medicine, translational cancer immunotherapy, and environmental factors that impact cancers in our catchment area, and cancer and aging; 5) increase focus on education and learning at all levels of training; 6) implement precision medicine; 7) seek institutional and philanthropic funding to support faculty recruitment and retention, and the facilities and shared resources needed to advance our research initiatives; and 8) continue to engage in the dynamic planning and decision-making process that was instituted by our new Director.