Welcome from the Co-Directors,

To our community,

At the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, our overwhelming priority is reducing the suffering and mortality associated with cancer in our community and beyond. We’ll do this by making Cincinnati the most innovative city in the world when it comes to cancer. That’s a lofty statement, but it provides an inspirational vision when measured in outcomes. Being the most innovative city means that we must understand how cancer develops and find ways to reduce occurrences to the lowest rate possible. And for those who develop cancer, we must continue to build the knowledge and means to treat it effectively so that those impacted can live long and healthy lives.

Achieving our vision requires a three-pronged approach: We must attack cancer at the molecular level in our laboratories, the individual level through patient care in our clinics and hospitals, and the community level with education, prevention, and reduction initiatives.

The Cancer Center, which includes the resources and labs at the University of Cincinnati, UC Health, and Cincinnati Children’s, supports research at each of these levels. In 2021, we designated specific areas we would pursue that take advantage of our unique strengths:

• Basic Science Research: Cancer cell signaling and metabolism
• Clinical/Translational Research: Emerging therapies
• Population Science Research: Relationship between environmental exposures and cancer

Each of these areas is critical to our goal of conquering cancer, and no one area can be overlooked or diminished. Just as importantly, we must connect the talent and expertise in all three areas so that knowledge can flow from our researchers in the lab to our clinicians on the front line of care to our outreach and survivorship teams in the community and back again.

The coming years will be particularly fascinating in the field and will be significant in the trajectory of our cancer program. We are excited about the future advancements in cancer understanding and management on the molecular level and are proud to be at the forefront.

Sincerely,

Syed A. Ahmad, MD Co-Director, University of Cincinnati Cancer Center The Hayden Family Endowed Chair for Cancer Research Professor of Surgery Chief, Division of Surgical Oncology

William L. Barrett, MD Co-Director, University of Cincinnati Cancer Center Professor and Chair, Radiation Oncology Medical Director, Barrett Center for Cancer Prevention, Treatment, and Research