The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center is a

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

research and treatment center at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. One of 52

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States, its clinical base is the N.C. Cancer Hospital, part of the UNC Health Care system. UNC Lineberger is the only public NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in the state of North Carolina. The current director is H. Shelton Earp III who succeeded current NCI director

Norman Sharpless Norman Edward "Ned" Sharpless (born September 20, 1966) is the previous Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Before that, Sharpless was Professor of Medicine and Genetics Chair, Director of University of North Carolina UNC Lineberger ...

History and name

UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center was established in 1975 with Joseph S. Pagano, Professor of Medicine and Microbiology at the

University of North Carolina School of Medicine A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, as its founding director. It was named after the Lineberger family of

Belmont, North Carolina Belmont is a small Suburb, suburban city in Gaston County, North Carolina, United States, located about east of Gastonia, North Carolina, Gastonia. The population was 10,076 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. Once known as Garibaldi ...

, whose Lineberger Foundation provided the core funding for the center's first dedicated research and administrative building, completed in 1984. The cancer center was previously led by

, who was appointed to the role in 2014. Sharpless, an expert in molecular therapeutics, attended the University of North Carolina as both an undergraduate, receiving the

Morehead-Cain Scholarship The Morehead-Cain Scholarship (originally the Morehead Scholarship) was the first merit scholarship program established in the United States. It was founded at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1951 and was named for its benefac ...

, and as a medical student. In 2017, he was nominated and confirmed as the director of the

. H. Shelton Earp III, who served as director of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center prior to Sharpless, agreed to serve as interim director after Sharpless left for the NCI. Earp was appointed on a permanent status in 2018. The center's clinical base, the N.C. Cancer Hospital, was completed in 2009. In the summer of 2007, the

North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, state government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...

established the University Cancer Research Fund (UCRF) to support cancer research at UNC Lineberger and the North Carolina Cancer Hospital with annual funding of $50 million.

Members and research

UNC Lineberger's members come from over 40 departments at the

, including UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Dentistry, the

Gillings School of Global Public Health The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health is the public health school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a public university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and is accredited by ...

, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and the College of Arts and Sciences. The Center has nine formal scientific programs: Cancer

Cell Biology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

Immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

, Molecular Therapeutics,

Virology Virology is the Scientific method, scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host (biology), ...

, Cancer Genetics,

Clinical Research Clinical research is a branch of medical research that involves people and aims to determine the effectiveness (efficacy) and safety of medications, devices, diagnostic products, and treatment regimens intended for improving human health. The ...

, Cancer Prevention and Control, and Cancer

Epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

. In 2006, its members held over $170 million in annual research and training grants, including $48 million in NCI funding.National Cancer Institute
"Cancer Center Profile: University of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center"
. ''NCI Cancer Bulletin'', June 20, 2006, Volume 3, Number 25

Notable members

* Joseph DeSimone, American chemist and recipient of the 2008 Lemelson-MIT Prize *

Aziz Sancar Aziz Sancar (; born 8September 1946) is a Turkish molecular biologist specializing in DNA repair, cell cycle checkpoints, and circadian clock. In 2015, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Tomas Lindahl and Paul L. Modrich fo ...

, Turkish-American biochemist and Winner of the 2015

Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Healthcare in North Carolina Cancer organizations based in the United States Federally Funded Research and Development Centers Medical research institutes in North Carolina National Cancer Centers NCI-designated cancer centers Cancer hospitals Hospitals established in 1975