UPCI Overview
Founded in 1984, the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) became a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in record time (by 1990). UPCI, the only cancer center in western Pennsylvania with this elite designation, serves the region's population of more than 6 million. Presently, UPCI receives a total of $154 million in research grants, and is ranked 10th in funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
The Institute's 500 faculty and staff, representing over 30 disciplines, work together closely to improve the understanding of cancer and to develop new lifesaving procedures in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. In the last five years, UPCI recruited more than 100 investigators and laboratory personnel. Among these recruits are many internationally respected physicians and scientists coming from prominent academic research centers, including NCI, Harvard University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Columbia University, and Imperial Cancer Research Fund (the leading cancer research institute in the United Kingdom).
Research conducted at UPCI reflects a comprehensive approach to understanding and defeating cancer. Basic research findings made at UPCI are the basis for the design of new and promising clinical studies that lead to quick and early patient access to new and innovative treatments. Currently, patients have access to approximately 350 open clinical trials at UPCI.
UPCI-initiated clinical research has garnered national and international recognition for the advanced treatment of melanoma, as well as brain, prostate, lung, ovarian, and breast cancers. Epidemiologic studies conducted through UPCI are yielding knowledge about the interaction of biological and environmental factors that contribute to cancer. UPCI's Behavioral Medicine and Oncology Program contributes valuable information on the biological markers linking emotional and physical well-being in cancer patients. UPCI findings in clinical and basic research appear regularly in prominent publications such as New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Science and Nature Medicine.
To spur the growth of industry in the tri-state area through technology transfer and other corporate endeavors, UPCI has established the highly innovative Limbach Entrepreneurial Center to educate cancer researchers about technology transfer, commercialization of their outstanding research initiatives and licensing of intellectual property to existing companies or to newly created spinout companies. Western Pennsylvania companies that have strong collaborations with UPCI include Automated Cell Technologies, Inc.; Precision Therapetuics, Inc.; ProlX Pharmaceuticals, LLP; D3 Advanced Radiation Planning Services; Immunetrics; Immunosite; Crystalplex Corporation; Fluorous Technologies, Inc.; Cellomics, Inc.; and TissueInformatics, Inc. Additionally, UPCI has collaborated with corporate partners, such as Varian Medical Systems, to bring the latest and most promising radiation technologies to the region's residents. UPCI has also formed collaborations with three major pharmaceutical companies to design and initiate clinical trials of novel cancer drugs, resulting in improved patient access to potentially better treatments, and is collaborating with several local biotech companies for University-Industry Collaboration funds from the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse.