DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Now in its 12th year of operation, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC) is the first consortium model, NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the country. The consortium is comprised of 1,015 members from five principal Harvard-affiliated hospitals and two Harvard health science schools: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), Children's Hospital Boston (CHB), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Harvard Medical School (HMS), Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The progress presented in this proposal has required DF/HCC leadership, its combined resources, and, most importantly, its consortium structure. The overarching scientific vision is to unite the members. The research of the Center is carried out in Research Programs that cross both scientific and institutional boundaries. In addition, the Center supports Shared Resources dedicated to enhancing scientific efficiency available to all Center members. The unified clinical research infrastructure has made it easier for members to conduct clinical trials across the Center. Indirect indications of scientific progress are the substantial growth in the Center's gran portfolio, from $233 million in 1999 to $406 million in 2004, to $623 million in 2009, and the award of multiple translational grants that transcend organizational boundaries (e.g., SPOREs, SCORs, P01s, U01s, and SU2Cs). There is also an array of hypothesis-driven, Early Phase (pilot, I, I-II), and proof-of-concept trials, made possible through the development and execution of the Center, that are conducted daily across the consortium.

RELEVANCE: The primary goal of the Center is to promote collaborative interactions that will lead to new approaches to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.