Richard Rose (center), president of the Cancer Research and Treatment Fund, presents a check for $400,000 to Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of the Medical College. Joining in the presentation were (from left) Dr. Roy Silverstein, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology; Dr. Ralph Nachman, chairman of the Department of Medicine; and Dr. Richard Silver, medical director of the Cancer Research and Treatment Fund and clinical professor of medicine at Weill Cornell.
Weill Medical College has received a $400,000 grant from the Cancer Research and Treatment Fund to establish the Leukemia and Myeloproliferative Diseases Center (LMDC) in the Division of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Medicine.
On Jan. 30, Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of the Medical College, joined Dr. Ralph Nachman, chairman of the Department of Medicine, and Dr. Roy Silverstein, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology, in expressing the Medical College's appreciation to Richard Rose, president of the Cancer Research and Treatment Fund's Board of Directors, and Dr. Richard Silver, medical director of the Fund, who is also clinical professor of medicine at the Medical College and one of the world's leading authorities on leukemia and myeloproliferative diseases.
For more than 30 years, the Cancer Research and Treatment Fund has been an important source of financial support for clinical cancer research at the NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center (formerly known as The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center). The Fund's financial support of physician-scientists in the Division of Hematology/Oncology has helped to advance the treatment of blood diseases and other types of cancer, including lung, breast and colon. Progress in combating this range of cancers is a reflection of the central role which hematological research has played in the development of new therapies for all cancers.
"The Leukemia and Myeloproliferative Diseases Center will support multidisciplinary basic research into the genetic and cellular causes of these diseases and translate research discoveries into new diagnostic and therapeutic modalities," said Dr. Silverstein. The LMDC will provide academic, research and treatment resources to facilitate the development of improved strategies for treating cancer patients. The Center will encourage integrated research projects involving clinical and bench researchers of national and international reputation. The coordination of translational studies within the Center will also include collaboration with institutional members of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System and other academic medical centers—which will allow discoveries made in the laboratory to be quickly incorporated into treatment options for patients, with the ongoing goal of reducing cancer mortality.