UCI Moves to Forefront of Cancer Studies : Research Designation Will Attract Funds; School Will Step Up Work in Community

The selection of UC Irvine as a special cancer center by the National Cancer Institute will lend additional stature to a young university that has been growing in reputation as a center for research.

But what is also special about the selection is that the criteria for designation were not only work done in the laboratory, but also for clinical work and for interaction with the community. This means not just research, but service to people in need, which is a sure test of commitment to a larger world in any university’s efforts.

According to Brian Kimes, an associate director at the institute in Maryland, UCI has received an advisory that it likely will receive the formal designation by the end of the summer. This is important for several reasons. First, it will allow the university to apply for special research grants available only to NCI-approved cancer centers, which may bring up to $2.4 million in federal grant money to the university over three years. This can lead to more cancer researchers, physicians and patients seeking state-of-the-art medicine. That can only contribute to the significance of UCI.

Much credit should go to Dr. Frank L. Meyskens Jr., who was recruited from the University of Arizona five years ago to head the effort for NCI recognition. He has brought scientists and researchers together, along with setting the vision for research grants.

Meyskens also has been a leader in chemo-prevention by studying the cancer preventive powers of Vitamin A. Recently, he was principal author of a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that showed that a drug similar to Vitamin A can reverse precancerous conditions of the cervix.

The new designation also puts UCI in line to become one day a comprehensive cancer center, an even more prestigious NCI designation that could put it in a league with only 27 other institutions around the country.