On May 15, 2017, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University earned the prestigious comprehensive cancer center designation from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), placing it in the top one percent of all cancer centers in the U.S.

This elite NCI designation means that Winship has demonstrated that its outstanding programs are reducing the cancer burden on the state of Georgia through research conducted in its laboratories, its clinical trial program, and its population-based science. Winship members have received $110 million in external peer-reviewed funding in 440 grants in support of this innovative research.

An estimated 50,000 Georgians will be diagnosed with cancer this year. About a third of them will receive some component of their treatment at one of Winship’s clinical locations in metropolitan Atlanta. For patients, Winship’s innovative research translates into better ways of detecting and diagnosing cancer. Patients also have full access to teams of experts using approaches to cancer not available outside of a top research cancer center. Winship has over 250 clinical trials enrolling patients in pursuit of better approaches to nearly every type of cancer.

Winship’s comprehensive cancer center designation was awarded after a rigorous evaluation process conducted by the NCI that included submission of a written grant and a site visit conducted by more than two dozen scientists from peer institutions. During that visit, the review committee watched videotaped remarks from former President Jimmy Carter supporting Winship’s application. He said: “I never knew that my own life would be saved by research that was funded through the NCI and its program that laid the foundation for such centers as Winship. Recently, I needed the very care that I have advocated for, care that exists through NCI’s cancer center program.”

Winship earned its first NCI cancer center designation in 2009, and the grant was renewed in 2012. Established 80 years ago by a foundational gift from Robert W. Woodruff, Winship Cancer Institute continues to receive funding support from the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center Fund, Inc. Mr. Woodruff believed that no cancer patient should ever have to travel outside the state of Georgia for care. The NCI comprehensive cancer center designation for Winship continues to make that vision a reality.