Tufts-New England Medical Center to build new Cancer Center

In an attempt to increase its already well-known reputation in cancer treatment, the Tufts-New England Medical Center (T-NEMC) will spend $19 million over the next eight years to create a cancer research institute.

The research institute will occupy 40,000 square feet of laboratory space near the Tufts-NEMC facilities and the campus of Tufts' Medical School. Scientists working there will attempt to improve their understanding of cancer and its effects on the human body.

"The goal [of the new cancer research center] is to develop the second [National Cancer Institute] in Boston _ there's only the Harvard one," Dr. Michael Mendelsohn, a Tufts Medical School professor, told The BostonHerald in May, when the Medical School announced its plans.

The center will attempt to "establish programs in cancer genetics, DNA research and the study of programmed cell death," the Herald reported.

The Cancer Center's research will be organized into three divisions: basic research, clinical research, and control and population studies. The center will also have a clinical component, which will provide care in a "multidisciplinary setting where patients meet the surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists at the same visit," according to the center's website.

The decision will "enhance the Medical Center's recognized excellence in cancer care," University's Health Sciences Public Relations Peggy Hayes said.

Philip Tsichlis, a nationally-renowned authority on molecular oncology (the study of cancer), will head up the new center and is due to start working early this fall.

Tsichlis "discovered a gene in protein that is one of the most important being studied today," Mendelsohn told the Herald in May. "He has superb interpersonal skills, and the commitment to developing the careers of young scientists in an environment that protects them and helps them grow."

When he was appointed to the new position, Tsichlis was the director of basic science and a professor in the department of microbiology and immunology at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Before that, he was the associate director of laboratory research at the Fox Chase Cancer Center, also in Philadelphia. He served as an expert in the Laboratory of Tumor Virus Genetics for the National Cancer Institute as well.

Although Tsichlis is coming from Philadelphia, his professional origins are at Tufts. At the beginning of his medical career, Tsichlis was an assistant professor of medicine at Tufts Medical School's Cancer Research Center.

Tufts' involvement in the cancer research center is fairly unique in the world of medical research. Unlike many universities with graduate medical programs, Tufts does not have its own hospital. T-NEMC is a separate entity from the University but, as a spokeswoman explained, "we work together."

Tsichlis will be a Tufts faculty member, but will be employed by the hospital. He will also be the first recipient of the Jane DesForges Professorship. DesForges served as a mentor to Tsichlis early in his career at Tufts