Release #402-00

 

Contact:	Sunny Mindel/ Lynn Rasic (212) 788-2958 Ethan Geto/ Kendall Christiansen (212) 686-4551 (Geto & DeMilly, Inc. Public Relations)

MAYOR GIULIANI JOINS AMDeC TO LAUNCH THE NEW YORK
CANCER PROJECT

One of the Largest Medical Studies Ever Undertaken in the U.S.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani joined Dr. Maria K. Mitchell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Academic Medicine Development Company (AMDeC) a statewide consortium of 35 academic medical research centers, teaching hospitals and research institutions - today to announce the launch of The New York Cancer Project. The New York Cancer Project intends to recruit 300,000 New Yorkers aged 30 to 69 from diverse ethnic backgrounds to examine, over a 20-year period, the interplay of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors in the incidence of cancer.

"The New York Cancer Project is an extraordinary opportunity for us to better understand the complex relationship between genetics and the environment that causes cancer," said Mayor Giuliani. "We hope that as a result of this project, we'll discover new ways to prevent cancer and identify it in its early stages so that it can be more effectively fought."

"This project is another example of New York City's leadership in medical research and biotechnology," the Mayor continued. "I want to encourage New Yorkers to take part in this opportunity for us to learn how we can save lives in the future."

"The New York Cancer Project will help medical scientists and physicians better understand the role of lifestyle factors like diet and exercise in the escalating incidence of cancer, a disease which affects millions of American families every year," said Dr. Mitchell. "Over time, this comprehensive, long-term study will provide an extraordinary window into the mechanisms and triggers of this insidious killer, much as findings from the pioneering Framingham Study continue to reap enormous benefits in our understanding and prevention of cardiovascular disease."

The New York Cancer Project is the first major research collaboration undertaken by AMDeC. Researchers believe that the Cancer Project will provide special insight into the incidence of cancer among New Yorkers of diverse ethnic backgrounds, including those of African-American, Caribbean, Chinese, Dominican, Irish, Italian, Puerto Rican, and Russian descent, as well as Askenazi Jews.

The 18-month pilot phase of The New York Cancer Project now underway comprises fourteen enrollment sites, including six academic medical centers that are members of AMDeC and eight community-based health centers. During this initial phase the Cancer Project will recruit and enroll 17,000 New Yorkers to establish the structure and refine recruitment strategies for the larger project.

Today's announcement coincides with an intensive, multi-media campaign to introduce The New York Cancer Project to New Yorkers, following months of planning and start-up efforts underway at all of the recruitment centers. These initial efforts have resulted in almost 2,000 individuals enrolling in The New York Cancer Project.

Also joining the Mayor for the announcement at Mount Sinai School of Medicine were Harold Freeman, M.D., President & CEO of North General Hospital, Associate Director for Health Disparities of the National Cancer Institute, and Chairman of The New York Cancer Project's Community Advisory Board; Thomas E. Rohan, M.D., Ph.D., The New York Cancer Project's Principal Investigator and Chair of the Department of Epidemiolgoy and Social Medicine; Arthur Rubenstein, MBBCh, Dean of Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Deputy Mayor for Planning, Education and Cultural Affairs Anthony P. Coles, Health Commissioner Neal L. Cohen, M.D.; Special Advisor to the Mayor for Health Policy Rosa M. Gil, D.S.W.

In 1998, Mayor Giuliani announced the City's $12 million investment over two years as start up funding for The New York Cancer Project. Of this amount, the City has earmarked $2 million to promote Project recruitment and breast cancer screening in areas of the City with higher-than-average incidences of breast cancer.

Formed two years ago, AMDeC was created to address several critical challenges related to the future of biomedical research in New York state: attracting and maintaining quality faculty and research scientists, sharing expensive laboratory facilities, collaborating on large scale research projects, attracting new research funds from the National Institutes of Health and other sources, and maintaining and strengthening New York's preeminent position in the field of biomedical research.

To enroll in The New York Cancer Project or to learn more about the study, please call the toll-free information and appointment line, 1-877-NYC-PROJ (1-877-692-7765), or visit the AMDeC web site at www.amdec.org.

www.nyc.gov