Helen Diller
The UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center is getting a new name today (November 19).
During a special ceremony at the Mount Zion campus today, the cancer center will be renamed the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Helen Diller and her family are longtime residents of the San Francisco Bay Area and are dedicated to giving back to the community, especially through the advancement of education, science and the arts.
"The new name is a tribute to the family's commitment to improving lives around the world and their trust in UCSF's ability to rapidly translate cancer discoveries into compassionate care," said Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, MD, in an email to the campus community. "The Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center will help UCSF build on an established track record of cancer innovation and discovery."
UCSF was designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute in 1999 in recognition of the highest level of excellence in both its scientific research and its ability to integrate diverse research approaches to focus on the problem of cancer and improve patient outcomes. The center ranks first in California and sixth nationwide in National Cancer Institute research grants and is home to pioneers in research into genetic, cellular and immune system causes and responses to cancer.
The Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center builds on a tradition of scientific leadership in cancer at UCSF that began when the Cancer Research Institute was established in 1948. Since then, the research enterprise has flourished. In the 1970s, UCSF researcher J. Michael Bishop, now Chancellor, and colleague Harold Varmus discovered that cancer is caused by normal genes gone awry. This revelation, which led to Bishop and Varmus receiving the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, transformed the field of cancer research and provided the underpinnings for new approaches to the detection and treatment of cancer.
Frank McCormick, Director, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Cancer Research Institute, said the new name will raise the national profile of the cancer center. "As a single, unified name, it will support us in developing increased recognition with the cancer center's various audiences," he said. "In addition, the creation of a unified name will heighten the distinction between UCSF and other cancer centers across the country."
Beginning November 19, all comprehensive cancer center signage will be changed to the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center name, and the new name will appear on UCSF websites. Over time, the new name and logo will appear in print publications and other materials related to the cancer center programs and resources.
"It is a new time for cancer discovery and treatment. I hope you will join in celebrating the good news about the new name," Bishop said.
