Comprehensive Cancer Center Program at Fox Chase

Research Inst Of Fox Chase Can Ctr, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

In November 2021, Jonathan Chernoff, MD, PhD, was appointed Director of FCCC, and to a new position as Senior Associate Dean for Cancer Research at the Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine. Concomitant with his appointment, FCCC received $75 million from Temple University Health System (TUHS) over five years to support program building, recruitment, Shared Resource upgrades, clinical trials, and pilot funds, as well as over $55 million annually to support the Center’s research mission. Under Chernoff’s leadership, and with exceptional institutional support from TUHS, FCCC has been transformed since the prior review. Chernoff assembled a new, expanded leadership team and reconfigured the External, Internal, and Community Advisory Boards to respond to new opportunities and address CCSG critiques. With the help of his new Senior Leadership team and the External Advisory Board, and guided by a new Strategic Plan, FCCC’s Research Programs were reorganized to promote synergies and translational science, resulting in enhanced collaboration and increased scientific impact. The FCCC research programs are: 1) Cancer Prevention and Control and two new programs in 2) Cancer Signaling and Microenvironment and 3) Nuclear Dynamics and Cancer. These Programs are supported by eleven Shared Resources that were significantly upgraded since the prior review. Through Chernoff’s appointment of new Senior and Program Leaders, and with the guidance of the Internal Advisory Board, FCCC has strengthened its integration with Temple, enabling increased leverage of valuable scientific resources and expertise across its three campuses. FCCC has achieved dramatic improvements over this grant period in multiple performance metrics. Notably, Chernoff secured a five-year institutional commitment for FCCC from TUHS that increased from $183M to $325M, which contributed to the following key accomplishments in this grant period (2019-2023): 1) a 12% increase in NCI funding and 21% increase in total peer-reviewed funding; 2) a near doubling in multi-PI grants (55 vs. 29), 3) 31 new faculty recruits across all three programs, 4) recruitment of a new Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement with expanded resources, and 5) two new NCI R25 grants (one to be awarded in 2024) and two new T32 training grants (one NCI and one NIGMS). In addition, FCCC has restructured the clinical trial enterprise, leading to a marked increase in accruals and a steep reduction in trial activation time from 263 days in 2021 to fewer than 90 days in 2023. Our record since the prior review of significant accomplishments in innovative and collaborative research, community outreach and engagement, training and education, increased integration with TUHS, and demonstrable service to our CA, all provide evidence of a transformative upward trajectory that honors FCCC's distinguished history and positions us well for the future.