• The SCCC is an interdisciplinary research center reporting to the Office of the Vice President for Research and Health Sciences. I will serve as Interim Director until we hire a full-time Director.
   
• I have asked Dr. Lucia Pirisi-Creek to assume the critical role of Interim Deputy Director of the SCCC. In this role, Lucia is responsible for managing the SCCC budget and resources, administrative personnel, and the marvelous SCCC research facilities at 14 Medical Park, 5th Floor which belong to Palmetto Health She is also responsible for working with the faculty leaders of the SCCC to formulate a vision for the future of the Cancer Center and for taking concrete steps to implement that vision. These tasks will be accomplished by Lucia and I, working jointly with the other members of the SCCC Executive Committee, as listed below:
  • Dr. Frank Berger, Director of the Center for Colon Cancer Research;
  • Dr. William Butler, SCCC Deputy Director for Medical Affairs;
  • Dr. James Hebert, SCCC Deputy Director for Cancer Prevention and Control;
  • Dr. Michael Wargovich, Director of the SCCC Cancer Chemoprevention Program.
  • Dr. Mitzi Nagarkatti, SCCC Deputy Director for Basic and Translational Research (effective August, 2005)
     
• The SCCC Executive Committee will be chaired by Lucia Pirisi-Creek. When a full-time Director will be in place, that person will become the Chair of this committee, as well as direct the SCCC.
   
• Under the leadership of Dr. Pirisi-Creek and the Executive Committee, the SCCC is now in a position to start a new phase of development and growth. I should stress here that the marvelous laboratories at MedPark 14 are only a part of the SCCC, which is a much greater organization with branches and elements in several colleges at USC. One of our priorities is to achieve a level of productivity and growth that will allow us to recruit a top notch scientist and administrator, as the SCCC full-time Director.

Priorities for the New Year

Below are some of the items the SCCC Executive Committee will be dealing with in the months to come:

1. Palmetto Health Alliance has renewed its commitment to the SCCC, guaranteeing support at the current levels for two years. We must work at further strengthening our partnership and jointly opening up opportunities for clinical cancer research.
    
2. Twelve new faculty positions among those in the Centenary Plan have been allocated to the SCCC. These positions must be strategically placed to enhance and complement existing programs, according to a careful strategic plan to be drafted by the Executive Committee.
    
3. Plans are being made for new SCCC research space that will house all basic, translational and cancer prevention and control programs. This space is being planned within the Biomedical Research Center, a part of USC’s new Research Campus: we envision that a substantial amount of space in the new Biomedical Research Center will be dedicated to cancer research, and clearly identified as SCCC. We must finalize these plans and make sure that the new building is entirely responsive to the diverse needs of our cancer researchers, and has room for the programs to grow.
    
4. Three out of five proposals funded under the Biomedical Research Initiative investment went to cancer research programs that will lead to the submission of program project grants. Other opportunities to produce PPG-type applications must be identified and efforts in this direction encouraged and supported. We must work diligently to ensure that all of these are successful.
    
5. Two of the funded SC Research Centers of Economic Excellence proposals were in cancer (both as MUSC/USC collaborations) and a third one is pending (submitted in collaboration with MUSC and GHS, with the backing of the Health Sciences South Carolina Collaborative). The funded projects must be implemented, and the one now pending must successfully go through the review process and site visit.
    
6. A cohesive Cancer Chemoprevention program that brings together the basic researchers who work on cancer chemoprevention at the SCCC, is being organized under the leadership of Dr. Michael Wargovich. This program must be supported and allowed to achieve in full its considerable potential.
    
7. The SC Cancer Prevention and Control Program, led by Dr. Hebert, is one of our most successful programs and the one that most immediately responds to the needs of South Carolina citizens, who are profoundly affected by cancer disparities. In our view, this program should constitute the centerpiece for the development of the SCCC research agenda, with basic, clinical and translational research programs, as well as outreach activities, centering around the cancer types that most heavily affect South Carolinians, and for which cancer disparities are most profound. We also must work as closely as possible with the Hollings Cancer Center to provide support for approaches to cancer research and intervention that are truly state-wide, tailored to the specific needs of our diverse population. The program is solidly funded, and just received a major NIH grant for work on cancer disparities (Dr. Hebert, P.I.).
    
8. A functioning SCCC Tissue Bank has been established, under the leadership of Dr. Phillip Buckhautls and with considerable support from Dr. Bill Butler. The tissue bank is operational, and steps are being taken to make it part of a state-wide consortium of tissue banks that will provide access to tumor specimens statewide, to interested and qualified investigators. We must work to further develop the tissue bank, as one of the core facilities pivotal to the conduction of state-o-the-art cancer research, particularly in the clinical and translational arena.
    
9. In addition to the tissue bank, the SCCC has a series of well-developed core facilities, including the DNA Microarray Facility, a Tissue Processing Facility, and a Flow Cytometry laboratory. We must promote utilization of these facilities by all members, as well as by all research entities at USC and in the state, to make sure that the facilities serve their primary purpose of supporting the conduction of research that uses up-to-date technologies, and also to assure that continued support of the facilities is derived, as much as possible (ideally, at least by 50%) from extramural funding.
    
10. The SCCC is working closely with PH Clinical Trials personnel and SCOA, and developing new ties with the clinical cancer programs at the Greenville Hospital System, as well as with local clinical oncology practices, to open access to clinical data for research purposes, and foster collaborations between the clinical, basic sciences, and cancer prevention and control programs of the SCCC. This is a complex and challenging task, that we are approaching under a number of different directions, and will require our full commitment and dedication.
     
11. The USC School of Medicine and my office have made a strong commitment to the recruitment of a top notch cancer researcher as the Chair of the Path/Micro department/Deputy Director of Basic and Translational Research at the SCCC, and the new faculty recruitment effort that person will conduct to strengthen both the Department of Pathology and Microbiology and the Basic and Translational Research program of the SCCC. Dr. Mitzi Nagarkatti has just accepted that position, and will be officially joining USC and the SCCC in August, 2005. We welcome Dr. Nagarkatti to the SCCC Executive Committee, and look forward to working with her as she shapes the Basic and Translational Research agenda of the SCCC.
     
12. Dr. Prakash Nagarkatti has accepted the position of Associate Dean for Basic Science at the School of Medicine, and will also be joining in August, 2005. Mitzi and Prakash Nagarkatti are a strong team of cancer investigators who add tremendous assets to our cancer research programs, while filling a gap in scientific expertise (cancer immunology) that had remained painfully open for some time. Mitzi and Prakash Nagarakatti have been provided with considerable resources to build the basic and translational cancer research programs at the SCCC, and (again) we are looking forward to working together with them in this endeavor.
     
13. A new call for COBRE applications is forthcoming: the SCCC must respond appropriately to this new challenge/opportunity. After consultation with the BRISCII, we have decided that Dr. James Hebert will be the Principal Investigator of the new COBRE proposal USC will submit for the upcoming round. Dr. Hebert’s proposal centers on complementary and alternative approaches to cancer treatment, with a strong focus on cancer disparities. The new COBRE group has been meeting regularly and is working very diligently to build a highly competitive proposal.
     
14. The organizational structure of the SCCC must be completed with the addition of an outside advisory committee.
     
15. Terms, benefits and expectations of SCCC membership must be reviewed, updated and communicated to the whole Biomedical community.

We will keep you informed as we continue in these efforts, and we welcome your input at any time in this process.

Harris Pastides, Vice President for Research and Health Sciences and Interim Director of the SCCC

Lucia Pirisi-Creek, Biomedical Research Facilitator and Interim Deputy Director of the SCCC