Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence
and Translation (CCNE-T)

The Stanford Comprehensive Cancer Center (SCCC) focuses the world-class expertise of more than 240 researchers and clinicians on the most critical issues in cancer research and medicine today. These dedicated individuals work together in multidisciplinary teams to unravel cancer’s secrets and to transform the latest detection, diagnosis, treatment and prevention discoveries into the most advanced patient care available. Combining these advances with comprehensive support services, the SCCC is committed to giving patients every clinical and technological advantage in the prevention and treatment of cancer. Stanford has prepared a comprehensive cancer center grant that has been submitted to the NCI. This will be important for the MC-START effort in cancer for the Medical School. A new clinical cancer center building has recently been completed. It is housed inside the Stanford Advanced Medicine Center within easy walking distance of Stanford Hospital & Clinics. Dr. Gambhir serves on the Executive Committee for the cancer center to provide significant input into shaping its future.

The center is an NCI-designated Cancer Center with 310 members from across the Stanford Campus who carry out clinical, basic, and population-based cancer research. It has ten research programs in the areas of Cancer Biology, Radiation Biology, Cancer Stem Cells, Cancer Imaging and Early Detection, Molecular Therapeutics, Immunology and Immunotherapy, Lymphoma, Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and Immune Reconstitution, Cancer Epidemiology, and Cancer Prevention and Control. Each of these programs is highly interactive and collaborative, with regular meetings. The Cancer Center also encourages collaborations through a seed or pilot grant program that provides funds for interactive research projects that entail collaborations between clinical, basic, and population science investigators. It also provides administrative support for program project grants and other types of collaborative activities. The Center provides Shared Resources to cancer center members at a discounted rate. These include state-of-the-art facilities for cell imaging, small animal imaging, flow cytometry, cancer tissue procurement and distribution, genomics, proteomics, biostatistics, clinical trials, immunologic monitoring, and high throughput screening with both siRNAs and small molecules. Each facility is reviewed annually for its ability to meet the needs of Cancer Center members and is overseen by a committee that includes Cancer Center leadership.

The Cancer Center has approximately $36 million in annual NCI funding exclusive of its core grant and $58 million in other NIH funding. This funding base reflects the strength of the institution in cancer research; Stanford is known for its innovation in research, particularly in the area of technology development and application, as well as for its focus on cancer.

In the area of education, Cancer Center members lead a large number of T32 training grants, as well as a training grant in Cancer Biology (Dr. Amato Giaccia, Associate Director for Education in the Cancer Center), and a separate post-doctoral training grant led by Dr. Michael Cleary, Associate Director for Basic Science. Trainees from these programs, as well as from medical oncology, radiology, and bioinformatics, would be candidates for involvement in CCNE activities.