The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is part of a group of 41 Comprehensive Cancer Centers (CCC) designated by the National Cancer Institute. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts, an area famous for its internationally renowned hospitals, colleges and biomedical research facilities like Harvard Medical School and affiliated institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT.
A CCC designation is award to only those institutions offering advanced cancer research and treatment services. These cancer services are a direct result of the National Cancer Act of 1971, directed at addressing the need for comprehensive cancer services and up-to-date research initiatives. These CCC-designated facilities undergo comprehensive reviews to ensure continued compliance with federally established standards for cancer patient care and research.
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute was founded in 1947 by Sidney Farber, MD, as the Children’s Cancer Research Foundation. In the 1970′s, it received CCC designation and in 1974 it became known as the Sidney Farber Cancer Institute in honor of its founder, but continues to focus many of its resources on childhood cancers. In 1983, funding from the Charles A. Dana Foundation was acknowledged by incorporating Dana’s name.
The Center employs about 3,150 people, 1,000 of them researchers, and serves more than 185,000 adult and pediatric patients a year. Uniting the cancer research efforts of the Harvard medical community, Dana-Farber is also a member of the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium, a unique model created to accelerate the development of novel, cutting-edge treatments for patients afflicted by multiple myeloma, a treatable but incurable cancer of plasma cells.
The Center supports 17 core facilities, and has implemented a fully integrated system for developing and performing clinical trials. Its Strategic Research Initiatives Program, focused on four areas, is designed to speed the application of molecular science to benefit the clinical care of patients or reduce the occurrence of cancer. These initiatives focus on:
- Biomarker discovery, using the Pathology Specimen Locator and Molecular Imaging
- Drug discovery
- Cancer care in Massachusetts
- The Technology Innovation FundToday, which supports one of the most robust cancer clinical trials programs in the country
Dana-Farber also has an Initiative to Eliminate Cancer Disparities (IECD), with more than 40 funded projects underway dedicated to understanding the causes of disparities in survival rates among underserved populations. These projects address issues which are believed to play a role in the excess mortality rates among minorities, and focus on:
- access to care
- access to clinical trials
- information about screening and preventive behaviors
- smoking cessation
In addition to being a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber is also a federally designated Center for AIDS Research, and is affiliated with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Contact the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
For more complete information about the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, visit their website at: http://www.dfhcc.harvard.edu/. To make an appointment, call Leah Gibbons, Institutional Coordinator, at (617) 632-4864, or (617) 632-3000, or toll-free at (877) 420-3951.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
44 Binney Street, Rm. 1628
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Google map for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
