All about the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Accreditation

The Purdue Cancer Center holds the prestigious NCI designation,
but what does this mean?

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of eight agencies that compose the Public Health Service (PHS) in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The NCI, established under the National Cancer Act of 1937, is the Federal Government's principal agency for cancer research and training. The National Cancer Act of 1971 broadened the scope and responsibilities of the NCI and created the National Cancer Program.

The National Cancer Institute coordinates the National Cancer Program, which conducts and supports research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer, rehabilitation from cancer, and the continuing care of cancer patients and the families of cancer patients.
Currently, John E. Niederhuber, M.D. serves as the acting director for the National Cancer Institute.   This position is appointed by the President of the United States. 
Each NCI Center receives a designation: Cancer Center or Comprehensive Cancer Center.  Cancer Centers have a scientific agenda that is primarily focused on basic, population sciences or clinical research.  Comprehensive Cancer Centers integrate laboratory, clinical and population based research.  Currently there are 22 Cancer Centers and 39 Comprehensive Cancer Centers – which totals 61 NCI-designated Cancer Centers in the United States.  There are virtually thousands of “cancer centers” in the United States, but only the best centers get an NCI designation.

The Purdue Cancer Center is a basic cancer center.  This means that we do basic research and are not affiliated with clinical research at our institution.  Currently, there are only seven such centers in the United States.  The Purdue Cancer Center is also prestigious in that we are one of two NCI-designated centers on an academic campus that are not affiliated with a medical center (the other is MIT). 

The NCI designation is obtained through a federal competitive grant program. To gain an NCI designation, a competitive grant is submitted and a site visit team comprised of research scientists and administrators evaluates the center’s research program. If a center receives a high ranking by these peers, the center then receives federal funding and the NCI designation.  Most competitive grants are awarded for a 5 year period.    

The Purdue Cancer Center has been continuously supported by the NCI since receiving its first competitive grant in 1978.