Dr. Michael J. Weber, Cancer Center Director

Changing the Future of Cancer Care

A message from the Director

We are at a historic inflection point in cancer care and research. Although almost half of us may get cancer, we can say for the first time that the defeat of cancer can occur - not at some distant time - but in the foreseeable future. Advances in understanding the molecular and cellular basis of cancer, the human genome project, and information technology have given us the tools to detect, treat, diagnose, and prevent cancer in ways that were only dreamed of a decade ago.  We anticipate a time when cancer therapies and preventives are specific, non-toxic, and customized for each person, based on scientific profiling of that individual's molecular makeup and the molecular makeup of the tumor.  The University of Virginia is helping to forge this new era of cancer care, drawing on its deep scientific strengths, its patient-centered architecture of care, and its tradition of collaboration and compassion.  Our goal is to deliver the very best of contemporary cancer care and use discovery science to bring the future closer.