Illinois Medicine

CANCER CENTER FUNDING SOURCES Funding for the $13 million Cancer Research Center expansion project was a collaborative public-private effort. A look at the funding by source (dollars are approximate): Local businesses $4.5 million 34.6% State $3.5 million 26.9% Private individuals $500,000 3.8% UICOM $1 million 7.7% Federal $1.5 million 11.5% PHOTO: DARYL WILSON PHOTOGRAPHY Andrew Tsung could have chosen to practice almost anywhere. He chose the College of Medicine at Peoria, where he is Patrick W. Elwood Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and director of the Brain Tumor Center at the Illinois Neurological Institute. to practice with his specialized training. He chose Peoria. "Because of the lab, because of the tumor volume, because of my specialty, I chose to come back here," says Tsung, now the Patrick W. Elwood Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and director of the Brain Tumor Center at the Illinois Neurological Institute. "This stand-alone functioning Cancer Center, with all the re- searchers, is just not seen in many places. It provides more of a direct link from the bench top to the bedside, a link between the research arm of the University of Illinois and the clinical arm of the INI," says Tsung, who completed his neurosurgery residency at the College of Medicine in Peoria and, during that same time, opted to spend a year working with Rao in the research facility. "For a comprehensive brain tumor center, I think research is a key component … as important as the surgery to take out a tumor," says Tsung, who last year saw more than 300 inpatient admissions for brain tumors from throughout Illinois and eastern Iowa. That has meant new expertise for the central Illinois region. "The center is enhancing our ability to attract additional talented cancer researchers. We are already starting the recruitment of two to four new scientists," says Rusch. Rao says he hopes to attract an epigeneticist, a radiation biologist, a cancer biologist and immunologist as well as a cancer epidemiologist. Though, he adds, "This facility is not just for cancer research but will attract other areas of expertise." Tsung says the Cancer Research Center will have a snowball- ing effect. "For example, if patients know there is an active brain tumor research arm coupled with advanced clinical treatment, more patients come. And when more patients are available, it has a snowball effect—we are able to offer more clinical trials for those patients." But it doesn't stop there, the neurosurgeon continued. "More patients also mean more support of all the educational elements, such as residencies and the medical students; it also then helps dis- seminate the knowledge," says Tsung, noting the clinical aspect of his work also means new and regular specimens for researchers to study in the lab. GETTING OFF THE GROUND TO GET THE $13 MILLION public-private project off the ground would not have been possible without a collaborative effort. Construction of the Cancer Research Center required investment from local businesses and private individuals; passage of state legisla- tion and outlay of state funds; approval of funding at the national level; and the blessing and funding from the University of Illinois Board of Trustees as well as funding from the city of Peoria. In order to take the research to the next level and to continue to attract new investigators required this modern facility, U.S. Secretary of Transporation Ray LaHood told the crowd at the December ribbon cutting. Now, with the structure complete "… a cure for cancer may be found right here in central Illinois—what a gift we're giving to our com- munity," he said. Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis said the Cancer Research Center will solidify a new culture in Peoria. "This building will symbolize the changing face of Peoria's future," he said. Ardis added that research at the College of Medicine at Peoria rivals the research and development that has long taken place in central Illinois at the U.S. Ag Lab and at the Caterpillar, Inc., Tech Center. "A cure is desperately needed, and that cure will be found through research—very likely the life-changing research that is accom- plished right here in our own backyard at the University of Illinois Col- lege of Medicine," said CEFCU CEO Mark Spenny. A former print journalist for a dozen years, David Haney joined the College of Medicine at Peoria in February as the director of strategic communications. City of Peoria $2 million 15.4% 22 | FALL 2012

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