Oct. 30, 2024
The National Cancer Institute has renewed the prestigious comprehensive cancer center designation to the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, awarding it a five-year, $14.2 million grant.
IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center again receives National Cancer Institute designation
The IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center is Indiana’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and one of only 57 in the nation to hold the cancer institute’s highest designation, which recognizes IU as a leader in laboratory and clinical research. The cancer center earned its comprehensive designation in 2019, after continuously holding a National Cancer Institute designation since 1999.
To maintain this designation, the cancer center hosts a National Cancer Institute site visit every five years, during which reviewers from across the country assess the center’s state-of-the-art research that is focused on developing new and better approaches to preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer; and learn about the center’s impact on cancer issues facing Indiana communities. The most recent site visit occurred in early 2024, following the submission of a 1,556-page Cancer Center Support Grant in late 2023 to the National Cancer Institute by cancer center leadership. The grant submission provided an in-depth look at the center and its many outstanding contributions to research.
For Indiana residents, this designation affirms that they have access to the most advanced, research-guided therapies, as well as hundreds of clinical studies that test the most promising new ways to treat cancer.
“This designation is a testament to the world-class research of IU faculty, whose scientific breakthroughs on cancer and other diseases are changing lives,” said IU President Pamela Whitten. “Through discovery and innovation, IU is at the forefront of developing solutions to some of the world’s most pressing health challenges.”
The IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center is recognized by the National Cancer Institute as high impact for the breadth of its research, education and community outreach efforts. The cancer center encompasses focused research centers including the Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research, the Tom and Julie Wood Center for Lung Cancer Research, the Brown Center for Immunotherapy and the Center for Global Oncology and Health Equity.
“Every day, hundreds of researchers and staff at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center are driven by one directive – research cures cancer. As the only comprehensive cancer center in Indiana, we are boldly making progress against cancer to improve health outcomes for all Hoosiers,” said Dr. Kelvin Lee, cancer center director and the H.H. Gregg Professor of Oncology and associate dean for cancer research at the IU School of Medicine.
Every day, hundreds of researchers and staff at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center are driven by one directive – research cures cancer. As the only comprehensive cancer center in Indiana, we are boldly making progress against cancer to improve health outcomes for all Hoosiers.
Kelvin Lee, MD — Cancer Center Director
Through its Office of Community Outreach and Engagement, the cancer center addresses health disparities statewide through prevention and screening, tobacco control, cancer survivorship and clinical study recruitment. Additionally, the cancer center offers more than 60 training and education programs for trainees across the spectrum from K-12 students and post-secondary students to faculty members.
“The IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center is an incredibly important part of the IU School of Medicine’s research enterprise,” said Dr. Jay L. Hess, dean of the IU School of Medicine and IU’s executive vice president for university clinical affairs. “The world-renowned research conducted by cancer center physician-scientists, including the development of the cure for testicular cancer by IU School of Medicine’s Dr. Larry Einhorn, as well as advances made in therapies for breast cancer, hematologic disorders, thoracic cancers and more, continues to support our mission to accelerate scientific discoveries that help eliminate suffering and improve the wellbeing of people in our state and around the world.”
The cancer center has more than 300 researchers who conduct all phases of cancer research, from laboratory studies to clinical trials to population-based studies that address environmental and behavioral factors that contribute to cancer. These researchers represent schools across IU including the IU School of Medicine, IU School of Nursing, IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, and others.
Impact on clinical advancements and Indiana’s life sciences economy
Physician-scientists at the cancer center lead clinical research studies with more than 200 actively recruiting trials today. In 2023, the center managed 300 clinical trials. Of these, 100 were investigator-initiated trials, meaning they were designed and implemented by IU researchers. In addition to evaluating potential new prevention, diagnostic or therapeutic approaches, these trials are often the last line of defense for patients when standard therapies have failed. The majority of these trials are only available at academic health centers and their affiliated cancer centers due to the rigorous demands of managing them and the complexity of patients’ health.
The IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center makes substantial contributions to the state’s life sciences economy. Its National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer center designation further enhances its ability to recruit faculty physicians and scientists of the highest caliber who bring with them highly funded research programs and continue to foster a culture of entrepreneurship in Indiana. Researchers currently hold 590 grants that total nearly $65 million in external funding. From fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 2023, intellectual property filed by the center’s researchers included 254 patents, 120 licensing agreements, and 16 start-ups.
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