Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Tuesday, November 17, 1998

Release #528-98

Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958


MAYOR ANNOUNCES FUNDING FOR NEW YORK CANCER PROJECT: MAJOR 20-YEAR RESEARCH STUDY ON CANCER

Consortium of New York's Top 25 Medical Schools & Hospitals Will Develop Research Project

Effort Will Also Invigorate City's Biomedical Research Sector

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) President Charles Milliard today announced that EDC will invest up to $12 million over two years as start up funding for the New York Cancer Project, a pioneering medical research effort that is designed to bring together the unparalleled resources of the City's entire medical and research communities in a major 20-year cancer research study.

The initiative is being developed by the Academic Medicine Development Company (AMDeC), a newly created consortium of 25 of New York's leading medical schools, academic medical centers and research institutions.

This extensive medical research study will greatly advance knowledge about the genetic and environmental causes of cancer, and is expected to lead to significantly improved diagnostic tools and treatment of the disease. When fully established, the Cancer Project will involve the participation of 300,000 healthy New Yorkers between the ages of 35 and 64 who will voluntarily contribute medical and lifestyle data for monitoring over a 20-year period. The goal of the New York Cancer Project is to create a multi-ethnic study that will examine the interaction between genetics, behavior, environment and other risk factors in the development of different cancers. New York City's ethnic and racial diversity will provide researchers with a unique opportunity to study individuals of many different backgrounds in the same environment.

"New York City has always been blessed with world-class medical institutions," said Mayor Giuliani. "And now for the first time, the City is providing seed money that will help launch a major cancer research project that will coordinate the unparalleled resources of New York City's medical community in the fight against cancer. Our medical centers understand that to be successful in competing for important research grants, especially from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)), cooperating on collaborative projects is essential.

"The City's investment in the New York Cancer Project will yield tremendous results not only in biomedical research, but in leveraging federal dollars, in bolstering the City's economy and in creating new jobs. Given Congress' inclination to increase budget funding for the National Institutes of Health over the next five years, and the fact that Congress has already increased the NIH budget by $2 billion this year, the Cancer Project could not be better timed. I would like to congratulate and thank all of the medical professionals for undertaking this critically important research project," the Mayor concluded.

The City is funding the initial phase of the Cancer Project, which will begin with the recruitment of 5,000 people over a two-year period during which the project's design will be tested. For both the initial phase and the full-scale Project, the diversity of New York City's population will provide researchers with an extraordinary body of data about genetic and environmental factors that cause various types of cancer and potentially other diseases as well, thereby making a significant contribution to medical research. The Project will also develop anti-cancer educational programs for professionals and the general public.

Hank Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of AIG, Inc. and Board Chairman of AMDeC expressed appreciation for the City's support. "The goals of the Cancer Project are ambitious and important," Mr. Greenberg said. "Fortunately, Mayor Giuliani understands the value of investing in medical research to make sure that New York maintains its competitive edge."

Over time, the total investment in the New York Cancer Project -- including funding from federal agencies, pharmaceutical companies, health-care investors and philanthropic agencies as well as in-kind resources provided by AMDeC partner institutions -- is expected to exceed $200 million. Furthermore, this investment has the potential to generate hundreds of jobs and important commercial spin-offs from findings and discoveries made during the life of the Project, bringing substantial additional funding and biomedical research activity to New York City.

"In addition to reinvigorating the City's biomedical research institutions, the New York Cancer project will yield significant medical research and public health benefits," added Arnold Levine, President of Rockefeller University and head of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Project. "Cancer will soon overtake heart disease as the leading cause of death in America, and despite promising developments, much remains to be known about its causes and effective therapies. New Yorkers will benefit greatly from improved understanding of the prevention and treatment of cancer which this study will provide."

Dr. Maria K. Mitchell, President of AMDeC, said, "This unprecedented collaboration will pool the extraordinary talents and resources of a remarkable group of institutions to advance the New York region's leadership position in biomedical research. This exciting synergy of science, public health and economic development will benefit New York, the nation and the world."

A campaign to recruit New Yorkers for voluntary participation in the New York Cancer Project will begin in the Spring of 1999.

Among the New York-area academic medical and research institutions that will be involved in the study with AMDeC are:

  • The Albert Einstein College of Medicine
  • Beth Israel Medical Center
  • Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
  • Cornell University Medical College
  • Lenox Hill Hospital
  • Maimonides Medical Center
  • Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases
  • Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
  • Montefiore Medical Center
  • Mount Sinai Medical Center
  • Mount Sinai School of Medicine
  • Nassau County Medical Center
  • The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary
  • New York Hospital
 
  • New York Medical College
  • New York University School of Medicine
  • New York University Medical Center
  • North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System
  • Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center
  • Presbyterian Hospital in the City of New York
  • Rockefeller University
  • Saint Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center
  • Saint Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center
  • Sisters of Charity Health Care System
  • Strang Cancer Prevention Center
  • and the
  • Greater New York Hospital Association.


PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDEES
Tuesday, November 17, 1998 12:30 pm

Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dominick Purpura, MD
Dean

Beth Israel Medical Center
Matthew Fink M.D
President & CEO

Beth Israel Medical Center
Marilyn Halper, M.P.H.
Executive Director of Cancer Center

Beth Israel Medical Center
Bert Peterson, M.D.
Surgical Oncologist with Specialty in Breast Disorders

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Herbert Pardes, M.D.
Dean, Faculty of Medicine

Greater New York Hospital Association
Kenneth Raske
President

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Richard Rifkin, M.D.
Chairman

Mount Sinai Medical Center
John W. Rowe, M.D.
President

Mount Sinai Medical Center
William H. Redd, Ph.D.
Professor, Associate Director

   The New York Hospital
David Skinner, M.D
President and CEO

New York Medical College
Msgr. Harry Barnett
President and CEO

The Presbyterian Hospital in the City of New York
William T. Speck, M.D.
President and CEO

New York Medical College
Ralph A. O'Connell
Provost and Dean, School of Medicine

New York Medical College
Sheila M. Smythe
Executive Vice President and Dean

The New York Eye & Ear Infirmary
Joseph P. Corcoran
President and CEO

North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System
Thomas Degnan, M.D.
Chairman, Department of Research

North Shore - Long Island Jewish Health System
Peter K. Gregersen, M.D.
Chief, Biology and Human Genetics


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