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Initiative: Cancer Research Center
Location: South Bend, Indiana

Fighting Cancer, Boosting the Economy

A partnership between IU and Notre Dame is advancing cancer research and building the state's economy

A new cancer research center in South Bend—the latest result of the public-private partnership between Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame—will bring 10 to 15 new faculty members to the community, attracting more research funding and creating jobs for the area.

Administrators at the IU School of Medicine (IUSM)―South Bend recently announced that IU and Notre Dame will construct the shared research facility beginning this year. The joint venture builds on expanded collaboration between the two universities initiated when Rudolph M. Navari, M.D., Ph.D., and former associate dean of Notre Dame’s College of Science, became director of the IUSM―South Bend in 2005. One of Navari’s first priorities was to establish a biomedical research partnership between the schools.  

The idea for a joint cancer research center first developed when Navari, who also heads Notre Dame’s Walther Cancer Research Center, met with a donor who wanted to support cancer research. Navari, seeing an opportunity to strengthen the partnership between IUSM—South Bend and Notre Dame, proposed the possibility of funding a shared facility. The donor agreed to commit $10 million toward a new facility, and the state of Indiana provided another $10 million.

Targeted Cancer Treatments

Researchers at the center will focus on genomics and proteomics—the molecular basis of certain cancers. “We hope to identify what genes cause various cancers, such as colon and breast cancer,” says Navari. Based on the results of the research, they will design treatments that target the cancers at the molecular level.

The 55,000-square-foot facility, scheduled to be completed in 2010, will house laboratories and office space for the center’s researchers and faculty members. The building will connect to Raclin-Carmichael Hall, a $23-million facility completed in 2005 that houses IUSM—South Bend’s classrooms and related educational facilities, as well as Notre Dame’s W. M. Keck Center for Transgene Research.

Research Funding and New Jobs

The creation of the center will enable IUSM—South Bend and Notre Dame’s College of Science to hire the 10 to 15 new faculty members, each of whom will have the potential to obtain grants worth millions of dollars, says Navari. “This research investment will in turn lead to new jobs that will have a huge impact on the economy,” he says.

Partnership a “Win-Win” for All

For almost 40 years the South Bend community has been enhanced by the presence of the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) South Bend on the campus of Notre Dame University. This innovative public-private partnership was the result of collaboration between longtime presidents Herman B Wells of IU and Theodore Hesburgh of Notre Dame with the encouragement of South Bend businessman O. C. “Mike” Carmichel Jr., who worked to bring the medical school to his community. Father Hesburgh called the partnership a “win-win” for all involved.

Today, through the generosity of private donors as well as the state of Indiana, IUSM―South Bend is housed in Raclin-Carmichael Hall. Students can complete their first two years of medical school in South Bend before transferring to Indianapolis for their final two years.

IUSM―South Bend has a major impact on the area’s health care: almost 80 of the 200 local physicians received the first part of their medical training at the site. Members of the South Bend medical community also teach and collaborate with researchers at the medical school, as well as mentoring medical students at health care sites throughout the area.

“We’re very fortunate here in South Bend to have the highest level of medical care that people would go to Chicago or Mayo to find due to the collaboration of this community and wonderful organizations like Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame,” says Nancy Hellyer, CEO and president of Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center.

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