Pioneering Cancer Researcher Will Lead the New Duke Cancer Institute
New Cancer Center Building to Open in February 2012
Michael B. Kastan, MD, PhD, a renowned cancer scientist and director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, has been named the executive director of the Duke Cancer Institute.
“Dr. Kastan’s achievements as the director and driving force behind one of the world’s preeminent cancer centers, as well as his widely recognized accomplishments in basic and clinical research, make him the ideal person to lead our newly launched Duke Cancer Institute and to implement a novel model of integrated cancer care and research,” says Victor Dzau, MD, Duke University Chancellor for Health Affairs.
The Duke Cancer Institute is a single entity – the first of its kind at Duke, which promotes opportunities for closer collaborations between physicians, nurses, and researchers in order to deliver the most advanced multidisciplinary care for patients.
The crowning jewel of the new institute is the new Duke Cancer Center building, currently under construction and scheduled to open in February 2012. This building will be the first at Duke to consolidate all services for patients with cancer in one convenient location.
“We know that the number of cancer patients and survivors who need our services is only going to continue to increase, so we are making plans to ensure that our staff can provide the most advanced care, innovative research, and comprehensive support services to each and every patient in an environment especially designed with private areas and quiet space to promote healing,” says Kevin Sowers, MSN, RN, FAAN, president, Duke University Hospital.
Experts predict a 16 percent increase in new cancer cases in North Carolina in the next five years and a 25 percent increase in the Triangle during that same time period and thus more space needed to treat patients.
