About
Mission
The University Cancer Research Fund's mission is to save lives and reduce suffering from cancer in North Carolina and beyond. The Fund will accomplish this through:
- Discovery: Better understanding the causes and course of cancer;
- Innovation: Using new knowledge to create new and better ways to prevent, find and treat cancer; and
- Delivery: Improving cancer care, screening, and prevention across the state.
Overview
Creation of the University Cancer Research Fund (UCRF) marked the start of a new era in North Carolina. The fund began with $25 million in 2007 and has grown to $50 million annually beginning in 2009 – UNC has both a mandate and resources to address our state’s growing cancer problem.
People and place are key to the Fund’s success. The Fund is about investing in people – promising researchers with the best ideas for cancer research, master clinicians who know how to bring those findings to patients, and others. UNC Chapel Hill and its UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have a culture of collaboration – both across the University and with partners beyond the University’s walls – that is essential to promote discovery and then turn those discoveries into new ways to treat, find, and prevent cancer.
Most important, however, is the Fund’s commitment to North Carolina. Currently one in three North Carolinians will develop cancer during his/her lifetime. One third of our patients will not live five years after a cancer diagnosis. All of our efforts are dedicated to assuring that future generations of North Carolinians will develop cancer less often and live longer and better when they do. To accomplish this goal, we will extend discoveries statewide through expanded outreach to clinics, health systems and underserved populations.
