UCSF Receives $36 Million NCI Grant

The cancer center at the University of California San Francisco has received a $36 million grant from the NCI.

The National Cancer Institute’s grant announcement made note of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center's “solid record of important discoveries in basic, translational, population-based and clinical research. The strong cancer focus, substantial institutional commitment, and sustained high level of research funding base with a significant number of multi-investigator, team-based programmatic grants have positively influenced the research programs at the center. 

“Clinical translational research has expanded with an increased number of patients enrolled on therapeutic and non-therapeutic clinical trials long with an increased number of investigator-initiated, institutional clinical trials.’’

The money represents a general support grant and is intended to fund administrative management and infrastructure. The money will be disbursed in equal installments over five years.

“We are pleased that the National Cancer Institute has recognized the work of our cancer center and has continued to make financing cancer research a high priority,’’ said Frank McCormick, director of the Diller Center. “Federal support for cancer research is imperative as we move forward with research to save lives in our generation and for future generations.”

Since 2007, the Diller Center has experienced a 22% increase in NCI funding. Its annual grant funding totals about $246 million per year, officials said. 

The Diller Center provides oncology services at four hospital campuses: UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion; UCSF Medical Center at Parnassus; San Francisco General Hospital; and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center.  

The Diller Center will open a dedicated cancer hospital in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco in 2015. It will focus primarily on women and children.