The designation of Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute by the National Cancer Institute in April, 2009, is one of the most significant achievements in cancer control in Georgia. The Georgia Cancer Coalition played a key role in making this designation possible.
Georgia had been the largest state in the nation, and Atlanta the largest city in the nation, without an NCI-designated cancer center-- a major barrier to providing an exemplary strategy of cancer prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment that Georgians deserve.
The National Cancer Act of 1971, enacted as part of the nation's war on cancer, established the Cancer Centers Program of the National Cancer Institute. This branch was charged with developing a network of distinguished cancer-research organizations characterized by scientific excellence and the ability to bring a diversity of research approaches to bear on the problem of cancer.
With this designation, Georgia is poised to move to the top ranks of cancer care. NCI designation makes the latest clinical trials and breakthrough treatments available at the Winship Cancer Institute and throughout the state, through collaborative relationships with other institutions and private oncology practices. It will be rare for newly diagnosed cancer patients to feel the need to travel elsewhere for state-of-the-art care.
Designation requires meeting rigorous criteria for the breadth and depth of basic science, clinical research, in addition to cancer prevention, control, and population/behavioral sciences. It requires effective collaboration among these disciplines, community partners, and other academic centers in Georgia and across the nation.
The planning process, which was funded by a $2 million planning grant from NCI, took 5 years. Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute is only the 65th cancer institute in the country to receive this honor.
What NCI Designation Means to Georgia
http://winshipcancer.emory.edu/WinshipContentPage.aspx?nd=575
The Winship Cancer Institute
http://cancercenters.cancer.gov/cancer_centers/138292.html
http://cancer.emory.edu/
List of NCI Cancer Centers
http://cancercenters.cancer.gov/cancer_centers/cancer-centers-list.html
Map of NCI Cancer Centers
http://cancercenters.cancer.gov/cancer_centers/map-cancer-centers.html