The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the North Shore-LIJ Health System announced a partnership aligning the laboratory's world-class cancer research with the hospital system's growing network of services which sees over 16,000 new cases of cancer every year throughout New York's metropolitan area.

The partnership will also let the CSHL and North Shore LIJ benefit from a $120-million investment to accelerate research on the disease as well as diagnosis and treatment. Funding will be directed towards research in advance cancer therapeutics, the development of a new cancer research unit in Lake Success supporting early-phase clinical trials and the recruitment and training of clinician-scientists in the field of oncology.

"This is a transformative affiliation for both institutions," said Bruce Stillman, president and CEO for CSHL, adding that the integration of clinical translational researchers, research scientists and cancer clinicians will speed up the advancement of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools for cancer in the region.

"[This] ... will transform our approach to cancer research and treatment throughout the New York area," said Michael Dowling, president and CEO for North Shore-LIJ.

This affiliation with CSHL is the latest in North Shore-LIJ's effort to improve coordination in multidisciplinary cancer care. Over the last two years, the hospital system has already invested over $175 million to both open and expand treatment centers in New York City and Long Island. One of the most recent is an $84-million expansion for the Cancer Institute headquarters in Lake Success which brought together all cancer services provided by the LIJ Medical Center and the North Shore University, including ambulatory oncology/hematology, radiation medicine, chemotherapy, brain tumor services and surgical oncology. Other expansions are being pursued in Westchester County, Staten Island, Queens and Manhattan.

CSHL, on the other hand, has been designated a Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute since 1987, the only one in Long Island. Current research in the facility are focused on cancers of the lung, breast, prostate, cervix, pancreas, skin and ovary, as well as medulloblastoma, gliomas, lymphoma, leukemia, sarcomas, carcinoid tumors and myelodysplastic syndrome.

Under the terms of the partnership, CSHL and North Shore-LIJ will keep operating independent from each other, governed by their own Boards of Trustees. To overlook the implementation of the partnership, both parties have assigned three representatives each: Bruce Stillman, David Spector and David Tuveson for CSHL and Lawrence Smith, Kevin Tracey and Thomas McGinn for North Shore-LIJ.

Photo: Umberto Salvagnin | Flickr