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The Brander
Cancer Research Institute (BCRI) of New York Medical College
is comprised of a cluster of specialized laboratories devoted
to activities that will lead to improved clinical care of
patients with cancer and eventually to cancer cure. Specific
laboratories include the Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory
and the Molecular Immunogenetics Laboratory.
 BCRI falls
under the auspices of New York Medical College and is part
of the Coalition Cancer Center at the Bradhurst Avenue site.
Specific goals of BCRI include:
- basic research
to identify new approaches to cancer treatment;
- the development
of tools for more accurate cancer diagnosis and prognostication;
- training visiting
scientists and students in basic scientific techniques
in the fields of new drug evaluation, analysis of tumor
kinetics and response to treatment, developing new methods
to diagnose and monitor malignant diseases.
- providing
a forum in which scientists from other specialties with
interests in cancer research can communicate and collaborate.
BCRI was the brainchild
of Dr. Zalmen Arlin, then Chief of Neoplastic Diseases at
New York Medical College and the clinical service at Westchester
Medical Center. Dr. Arlin visualized the union of a modern
research center and a clinical treatment program which would
enhance the ability of doctors to quickly put to use, or translate,
the discoveries made in the laboratory to the clinical setting.
It is well known that a lag exists between discovery of new
treatments and the actual use of these treatments in patients.
By bridging the gap between the laboratory scientist and the
clinical team, the communication between the two groups is
immediate and clinical trials can be started sooner. Thus,
many more people faced with cancer can be helped at the first
possible moment. As our scientists are specifically seeking
new methods of cancer detection, determination of severity
of cancer and treatment which will pinpoint precisely the
form and stage of each persons particular cancer, this work
will make treatment planning that is tailor-made to each individuals
unique circumstance possible.
Because of this
close link, patients can not only be closely monitored throughout
their anticancer therapy, but they can be tested in the
laboratory for their sensitivity to different drugs, allowing
the scientists to give the clinicians a clearer picture
of what will work best for the individual without subjecting
that person to rigorous, costly and often unpleasant diagnostic
testing.
DIRECTOR
Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine and Pathology
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Frank Traganos, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine and Pathology
The American Health Foundation
(AHF), is a unique non-profit basic research
center dedicated entirely to cancer prevention and control.
Founded in 1969 by Dr. Ernst L. Wynder, the AHF has research
facilities in New York City and in Valhalla, New York on
the Westchester Medical Center campus. The primary goal
of the AHF is to reduce the incidence, morbidity and mortality
of cancer through research and education. Embedded within
the AHF is a National Cancer Institute designated Cancer
Center, one of only 58 such centers and the only one principally
dedicated to understanding both the biology of cancer prevention
and the behavioral aspects required for cancer control.
The goal to prevent
cancer and other chronic diseases is accomplished through
a highly coordinated program of translational research involving
laboratory investigations, clinical prevention studies,
behavioral research and applied research focused on healthy
lifestyle changes. The AHF Cancer Center's research is carried
out in five highly interactive programs including:
- Tobacco and
Environmental Carcinogenesis
- Mechanisms
of Carcinogenesis
- Chemoprevention
and Nutritional Carcinogenesis
- Health Promotion
and Cancer Risk Reduction
- Cancer Susceptibility
In addition,
AHF has developed pioneering studies in promoting healthy
lifestyles in children and in understanding the cancer risks
of specific adolescent and adult populations whose inheritance
history or behavior places them at increased risk of developing
specific cancers.
PRESIDENT
Daniel Nixon, M.D.
Director, AHF Cancer Center
DIRECTOR OF
RESEARCH
Anthony P. Albino Ph.D.
Deputy Director, AHF Cancer Center
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