Dear Colleagues,
We are thrilled to share an exciting milestone: the Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) has been designated as a Basic Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This moment is a testament to the strength of the campus community and the ongoing support from collaborators, alumni, and friends like you who help make this possible.
This designation is a landmark in the national efforts to combat cancer, marking the first new Basic Cancer Center designation in nearly 40 years. It reflects the world-class science, collaboration, and commitment that so many of you have helped make possible. This recognition is also a testament to years of dedication and a shared vision to bring together engineering, basic science, and innovation to transform how we understand, detect, and treat cancer.
We are pleased to share the announcement, making this exciting news public, and invite you to read our full press release to learn more about this landmark designation. We are also planning to gather together later this year for scientific exchanges and to celebrate this development, and we look forward to sharing more details with you soon.
To help you share this news in your own networks, we have prepared a set of resources — including talking points, Q&As, and a social media toolkit — that you can use to speak confidently about the designation and what it means for our center, campus, and community.
We are deeply grateful for your support and partnership in reaching this moment, and we look forward to continuing this important work together.
With appreciation,
Rohit Bhargava
Phillip and Ann Sharp Director, Cancer Center at Illinois
Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering and Professor of Bioengineering
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign