Dana-Farber launches Center for Applied Canc...( BOSTON--Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of...)

BOSTON--Dana-Farber Cancer Institute officials today announced the establishment of the Center for Applied Cancer Science, a far-reaching initiative designed to convert basic molecular discoveries into new therapies for cancer. The center is an integral part of Dana-Farber's strategic plan, which commits the Institute to making major advances in the development of cancer cures by accelerating the translation of scientific advances into novel cancer prevention methods, diagnostic techniques, and therapies.

"Dana-Farber has both the intellectual resources and the responsibility to overcome some of the traditional barriers that have slowed the discovery and development of new cancer therapies," says Dana-Farber President Edward J. Benz, Jr., MD. "Working alongside and with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, we will further improve our academic-corporate collaborations that can, and ultimately will, save lives by translating scientific discoveries into novel highly effective therapies."

Under the direction of Ronald A. DePinho, MD, the American Cancer Society Research Professor at Dana-Farber and Harvard Medical School, the center's multidisciplinary teams of scientists, project managers and technology experts -- including molecular biologists, cancer geneticists, immunologists, bioinformatic specialists and clinical investigators -- will utilize large scale, high-resolution methods to discover cancer genes and then use the genes' unique features to devise specific drugs or antibodies to target them. The center will also harness the intellectual and technological capabilities of the broader Harvard community as well as establishing more productive working relationships with scientists in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

The center will build on Dana-Farber's expertise in developing mouse models of human cancer to facilitate the development of diagnostic tests for early cancer detection, and to reduce the time it takes to t
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Contact: Bill Schaller
william_schaller@dfci.harvard.edu
617-632-5357
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
30-Mar-2004

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