THE DRIVE FOR NCI DESIGNATION

From left: Roy Jensen, MD, director of The University of Kansas Cancer Center; Bob Page, hospital president and CEO; Barbara Atkinson, MD, KUMC executive vice chancellor and dean of the medical school; and Kansas governor Mark Parkinson.

Part of our support for the University of Kansas Medical Center goes to funding the university's focused, multi-year initiative aimed at becoming Kansas' first National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center.

NCI designation recognizes national leaders in cancer research. An NCI designated cancer center becomes a magnet for substantial external funding to discover, develop and deliver more advanced therapies to people with cancer. Patients at an NCI-designated cancer center have access to the newest, most promising therapies and laboratory discoveries. For Kansans, that means the most advanced care, closer to home.

The groundwork for earning NCI designation began in 2004 and will reach a major milestone with a formal application
to NCI in September 2011.