As part of the creation of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, it was recognized that a wonderful building alone does not make a great cancer center. People and programs make great cancer centers.
Several months ago UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., and The Nebraska Medical Center each committed $5 million toward the first wave of recruitment of new faculty and programs to the center.
A group of six individuals — Ken Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., Julie Vose, M.D., Glenn Fosdick, Carl Smith, M.D., David Mercer, M.D., and Brad Britigan, M.D. — were assigned the responsibility for determining the use of these funds, recognizing that more funds will be coming from a variety of sources in the future.
Assessment of the immediate needs of the cancer center suggested that development of and investment in new clinical programs with translational research links to existing basic science programs is a priority.
In order to have the input of a broad array of campus cancer experts, an advisory committee was established and asked to assess opportunities and suggest priorities for the use of this initial $10 million.
The charge to the committee was to identify opportunities for recruitment and program development and provide recommendations to the group charged with allocating the resources as to how the $10 million was best used.
Individuals asked to serve on this committee are listed at right. They were selected to provide a broad array of expertise in clinical cancer and research. The members of the advisory committee were asked to seek advice and input from as broad a constituency as possible in the process of their deliberations.
For the past several weeks the members have been presenting some of their ideas to each other. This process will extend at least through the end of the summer.
In spite of the breadth and scope of the advisory committee members, it is possible that some members of the UNMC community have not had the opportunity to contribute their ideas regarding the priorities for use of the initial $10 million recruitment pool. If that is the case, please contact one of the members of the advisory committee to bring the idea forward.