Eppley Cancer Center University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha, Nebraska
The Eppley Institute was established in 1960 as part of the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) College of Medicine. In 1983, the Eppley Cancer Center was founded and, in 1999, Eppley became an NCI-designated cancer center. Eppley’s mission is to coordinate basic and clinical cancer research, patient care, and educational programs, and to facilitate the application of new knowledge about the etiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer.
The Center incorporates the expertise and resources from the colleges and institutes at UNMC as well as its affiliated hospital, The Nebraska Medical Center. Construction of the Cellular Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) facility at UNMC was recently completed, designed to meet FDA requirements for Cellular Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Tissue Practices (GTP). In addition, the Center for Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine (CDDN) was established at UNMC.
Eppley is also a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance that develops standards and sets guidelines for treatment. Multidisciplinary teams conduct research focused on discovering the mechanisms which cause cancer to develop and then translating these discoveries into new approaches for early detection and new therapies for cancer treatment and prevention.
Research at Eppley is conducted in four Research Programs: Cancer Genes and Molecular Regulation, Molecular Biochemical Etiology, Lymphoma Research, and the developing program for Cancer Prevention and Control. Notable programs in research include the Center’s work on lymphoma and bone marrow transplantation, pancreatic cancer, and breast cancer. In addition, Eppley founded the Nebraska Early Detection and Informatics Technology Project to provide state-wide lung cancer screening.
Clinical care is provided to patients at the Peggy D. Cowdery Patient Care Center and Clinic in the Lied Transplant Center on the UNMC campus and at the Village Point Cancer Center in west Omaha. Through affiliations with three NCI Community Cancer Center Program (NCCCP) centers, Eppley offers new opportunities for clinical/translational research and provides patients in rural communities access to the Center’s clinical trials. The UNMC Department of Pediatrics and Children’s Hospital signed a formal Academic Affiliation Agreement, which will provide enhanced access and increased accrual of children with cancer into clinical trials at Eppley. The Center has also developed an affiliate network of hospitals and physicians across the state.
Eppley reaches out to the medical community and the broader public through a variety of education and outreach programs for scientists, clinicians, health care workers, future scientists and healthcare providers, and the general public. For example, the Cancer Research Graduate Program trains students in the latest techniques of cancer research, awarding a Ph.D. upon completion. Community outreach programs are educating the public on the importance of cancer prevention and early detection. At several annual events, Eppley provides free cancer screening to Nebraska’s underserved populations.
* This profile was provided by the Eppley Cancer Center.
