Mayo Clinic dedicates its new cancer research building

Tuesday, February 18, 2003

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Feb. 17, 2003 — Mayo Clinic will officially dedicate the C.V. and Elsie R. Griffin Cancer Research Building at noon on Friday, Feb. 21. The $22 million facility is the first building in the history of Mayo Clinic to be devoted exclusively to cancer research. The four-story, 103,000 square-foot building is capable of accommodating space for about 400 cancer researchers working in up to 20 laboratories. The building is named for C.V. and Elsie Griffin, long-time Mayo patients and benefactors. The Griffin's support, as well as gifts from a host of other benefactors, provided funds for construction of the building and its facilities.

Last July, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) extended its highest designation — Comprehensive Cancer Center — held by Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., to include Mayo's locations in Jacksonville, Fla., and Scottsdale, Ariz. Mayo Clinic is the first multicenter clinic in the United States to achieve this NCI designation for its entire cancer program. Scientists working in the Griffin Building will unite their skills with colleagues in Rochester and Scottsdale in a comprehensive approach to maximize resources and draw together diverse skills in three locations for the single goal of helping patients.

"The NCI designation carries with it a promise to our cancer patients," says Dr. George Bartley, chair of the board of governors, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. "Knowledge gained from laboratory research that will be conducted in the Griffin Building, combined with that gained from our established clinical research programs, assures patients access to the latest and most promising cancer therapies."

When the war on cancer began in the early 1970s, comparatively little was known about the biology of cancer. Today we are focusing on highly sophisticated ways to use the immune system to fight cancer, to identify cancers earlier when treatment is likely to be most effective and to refine surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. These various options are often combined to create individualized treatment regimens. As we look ahead, the fields of genetics, immunotherapy and cellular biology are particularly promising areas for further exploration.

Mayo Clinic recruited Alan Fields, Ph.D., cancer cell biologist, pharmacologist and director of the Sealy Center of Cancer Cell Biology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston to become the director of Cancer Basic Research at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Jacksonville. Dr. Fields will be responsible for developing the research programs housed in the Griffin Building. "This is an exciting opportunity for my colleagues and me to join the Mayo Comprehensive Cancer Center system, the first national NCI-designated Cancer Center," Fields says. "A major focus of our research in Jacksonville will be to identify how environmental and genetic risk factors interact to influence overall cancer risk. I believe that this area of research holds great promise of making a major impact on cancer prevention and treatment."

Internal and external trustees of Mayo Foundation, benefactors and research staff will attend the dedication ceremony and luncheon to honor those whose generosity made the historic occasion possible. U. S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a member of the C.V. Griffin Foundation and cousin of the late C.V. Griffin, will pay special tribute to Mr. Griffin.

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