UVA now designated as Virginia’s only Comprehensive Cancer Center

National Cancer Institute (NCI), the largest funder of cancer research in the world, has awarded the University of Virginia Cancer Center a Comprehensive Cancer Center designation effective Feb. 1, 2022.

UVA, that also owns the hospital in Manassas, is the only Comprehensive Cancer Center designated in Virginia.

By earning the CCC designation, UVA moves into an elite group of 52 of the most outstanding cancer programs in the nation.

Centers that achieve this level of recognition must meet the most rigorous standards for innovative research and leading-edge clinical trials. To achieve this status, it was necessary to demonstrate:
• Enhanced depth and breadth of basic, clinical, and population research
• Enhanced outreach and education to our cancer center’s catchment area and community
• Transdisciplinary research that bridges multiple scientific areas, evidenced by the center’s ability to take maximum advantage of research and innovation across UVA
• Excellence in training in cancer research

The application for the Comprehensive Cancer Center designation required submission of a 1,300-page application, followed by a site visit from 14 distinguished scientists and physicians, including leaders of other NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers.

“This achievement is exemplary of the excellence that UVA Health provides across all disciplines and of our recognition as one of the nation’s top academic health systems,” said K. Craig Kent, MD, executive vice president for health affairs at UVA and chief executive officer of UVA Health. “I want to congratulate our UVA Cancer Center team for this remarkable achievement and for their determination in seeking this recognition.”