VCU Massey earns elite “Comprehensive Cancer Center” status from NCI
The National Cancer Institute’s 2023 designation of VCU Massey made it the 54th NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the U.S.
Watch the VCU Massey team explain the impact of the new Comprehensive Cancer Center designation.
It is the most prestigious designation in the field of oncology — and Massey has achieved it. By being named a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute, Massey has been recognized, in the NCI’s words, “for their leadership and resources, in addition to demonstrating an added depth and breadth of research, as well as substantial transdisciplinary research that bridges these scientific areas.”
There are currently 72 NCI-Designated Cancer Centers in the U.S. that are funded by the NCI to advance cancer research, community outreach, and oncology-related education and training. Of these 72 institutions, 58 are Comprehensive Cancer Centers — and Massey and UVA Cancer Center are the only two in Virginia.
Comprehensive is not just a name — it is validation from the NCI that we have proven excellence in laboratory research, population science and clinical research.
Robert A. Winn, M.D.Massey director and Lipman chair in oncology
“The NCI thoroughly measured our impact on the community through outreach and engagement, while also considering our integration of cancer training and education of biomedical researchers and community health care professionals,” said Robert A. Winn, M.D., Massey director and Lipman Chair in Oncology.
“We are so proud to reach this milestone — and to be leading the charge, not just in research but in building trust and breaking down barriers between medical institutions and communities,” Winn said.
Massey director elected president of the Association of American Cancer Institutes
As Massey reaches elite status in its new designation, Massey’s director, Robert A. Winn, M.D., has also reached a new pinnacle: He has been elected to lead the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI), which represents more than 100 premier academic and freestanding cancer centers in the U.S. and Canada.
As president, he is leading the nation in establishing a 21st-century model for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the oncology workforce. His AACI presidential initiative, “Inclusive Excellence,” aims to develop and promote inclusion by fostering partnerships between AACI members and like-minded organizations, government agencies and other institutions regionally, nationally and globally.
Winn is the first minority president of the AACI and the first president from Virginia. He is also the first African American to lead a cancer center to NCI comprehensive status.
A new era of community-centered cancer research
According to Winn, the new comprehensive designation “allows Massey to be the first in a new generation of cancer centers that integrates the community in all of the research we do.”
The medical field calls this approach “community-to-bench,” which means that the people who are served guide the research. According to Winn, “instead of following traditional models that keep much of the process inside a laboratory, Massey engages individuals in their communities; they are essential partners at every level of our research – design, implementation, evaluation and dissemination. The data we collect from the community helps us to refine scientific questions. We can then take medical innovations back to the community through clinical trials to serve specific needs and have a greater impact on overall health.”
Higher recognition means stronger funding
Comprehensive designation offers Massey more research funding from the NCI and greater leverage when applying for other grants. The recognition also enables Massey to expand its stellar team, recruiting and retaining top scientists from around the world. By doing so, the scope of Massey’s research can broaden, with new areas of expertise and new methodologies to fight cancer. The designation could open more doors to collaboration with other research institutions as well.
An achievement years in the making
Massey was one among the earlier cohorts of cancer centers designated by the NCI in 1975, just four years after the creation of the NCI Cancer Centers Program. With that initial designation, Massey was already among the top 4% of the nation’s 1,500 cancer centers. When Winn started as director at Massey in December 2019, he asked, “But why stop there?” He then made achieving comprehensive status a top priority.
To position Massey for NCI comprehensive designation, the center embarked on a two-year fundraising campaign to generate an additional $22 million. Called the “Quest for Comprehensive,” the fundraising initiative focused on recruiting and retaining acclaimed scientists; increasing research and clinical trials; expanding Massey’s Molecules to Medicine program; expediting cutting-edge treatments; combating cancer health disparities; and improving cancer prevention, detection, treatment and survivorship for everyone. Thanks to that additional funding and the efforts of all stakeholders, comprehensive designation was reached in May 2023.
Massey leads national program that encourages service-learning and student diversity
This past year, Massey has been the leader of the Robert A. Winn Clinical Investigator Pathway Program (Winn CIPP), coordinating with 15 sites across the country to welcome 66 medical students to this prestigious and intensive six-week summer service-learning externship. The experience enables students to collaborate on research with world-class mentors and gain valuable experience related to the design, implementation and operation of clinical trials.
In the summer of 2023, VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center hosted four students as part of the program. Student projects at Massey explored the barriers to recruiting more diverse clinical trials. Some students examined the impact of a patient’s financial situation on care and outcomes, and how the medical community can better encourage clinical trial participation in patients with financial limitations or stressors. Others worked on clinical trials and assisted with developing protocols and plans for trials. All of them viewed their work through the lens of understanding and working to address health disparities.
Winn CIPP is part of the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Award Program. A second initiative in the program — the Career Development Award — provides opportunities for early-stage investigator physicians who are from diverse backgrounds and/or committed to increasing diversity in clinical trials participants. The Winn Awards program aims to train, develop and mentor more than 290 diverse and community-oriented clinical trialists and 290 medical students by 2027.
More personalized medicine and community outreach
While the Comprehensive Cancer Center designation marks a milestone, new achievements will continue every day as Massey works toward a world without cancer. Personalized medicine is one area that is changing oncology as we know it.
“At Massey, one treatment does not fit all,” Winn said. “As our researchers continue to make advances in immunotherapy, more patients will benefit from it and other types of personalized medicine.”
Prevention programs will focus on the intersection of place and space with cancer.
Robert A. Winn, M.D.Massey director and Lipman chair in oncology
As a community-to-bench center, Massey will continue to recognize the importance of location. Winn noted that “lowering cancer incidence and mortality requires not only looking at DNA but also ZNA, which is an individual’s ZIP code and neighborhood of association. Prevention programs will focus on the intersection of place and space with cancer.”
That approach is already proven in a new outreach effort that launched in the fall of 2023. Two “Massey on the Move” mobile health vans are now delivering cancer education and awareness to traditionally underserved communities across central and southern Virginia. The vans also serve as an entry point for connecting with health education programs like We Can Quit and We Can Eat Well, and for help accessing screening tests, diagnostic follow-up tests, cancer treatment services and state-of-the-art clinical trials.
Within their first few months, these vans reached nearly 1,000 people at events throughout the region, and Massey’s Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) team had hundreds of one-on-one conversations with residents to encourage healthy lifestyle practices and cancer screenings.
