On Oct. 4, 2021, the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center announced it had successfully renewed its National Cancer Institute Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG). This grant bestows National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation on the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center and marked continuous NCI funding for the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center since 1984. Renewal of the CCSG, amounting to approximately $12 million over the next five years, helps cover the costs of administering the cancer center’s research programs and operating its core facilities, which provide sophisticated technical services to researchers throughout the cancer center.

Renewing the Cancer Center Support grant involved submitting a 1,300-page grant application to the NCI in September 2020. This was followed by a virtual site visit by 16 external site visitors in late January, during which the cancer center’s senior leadership team presented information on its basic and clinical research programs. The site visitors were senior leaders at other NCI-designated cancer centers.

The Buffett Cancer Center received a 12% increase in funding. Over 100 Cancer Center members and staff contributed to the successful grant renewal, Dr. Cowan said. The NCI renewal re-confirms the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center’s status as an elite cancer center program, one of just 71 NCI-designated cancer centers in the country.