News and Information
Centerpoint Spring 2008 (PDF)
West Campus Sets the Stage for Cancer Research Expansion
One year has passed since Yale University President Richard C. Levin announced the acquisition of the former Bayer complex in West Haven to expand the University’s science and medical research facilities to a new “West Campus.” With discussions well underway for the use of the complex, which features approximately 550,000 square feet of laboratory space, as well as office buildings, warehouses, and other facilities, Yale Cancer Center is actively involved with plans to develop an expanded cancer biology research program.
“The new West Campus facility will allow us to recruit a critical mass of cancer researchers who will collaborate together in this new space. Without dedicated space, Yale has never had the ability to create the coordinated cancer research effort that the West Campus will give us,” Daniel DiMaio, MD, PhD, Scientific Director of Yale Cancer Center and the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor and Vice Chairman of Genetics
said.
The expansion of cancer research efforts at Yale is timely for several reasons. The completion of the human genome sequence has provided unprecedented insight into overall human genetic composition and the role our genes play in the development of cancer and response to treatment. New technological advances and new biological tools have also opened new areas of cancer research. These scientific advances, combined with the successful renewal of the National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer center status and grant and the construction of the Smilow Cancer Hospital will usher in a new era of excellence in cancer research and clinical care at Yale Cancer Center.
“This is an exciting time for cancer research and clinical care, and the West Campus provides a unique opportunity to catapult Yale to the first rank in these areas,” DiMaio said.
The new West Campus cancer research programs will primarily focus on basic cancer research with translational potential, and will be headed by senior cancer biologists recruited to come to Yale. The current plan is to build programs in cancer genetics and genomics, exploration of cellular signal transduction pathways, and tumor immunotherapy with the recruitment of 15-20 new faculty members. “These three components of the Cancer Biology Program will reinforce each other and the existing research and clinical components at the Cancer Center. Ultimately, the integration of these areas is expected to become a mainstay in cancer diagnosis, therapeutic development, and treatment decisions,” DiMaio explained.
