52
The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) became one of the first cancer centers in the country designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), sparking explosive growth and expansion of cancer research and care at Columbia in 1972—52 years ago.
The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) is the home for cancer research and patient care at Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Our cancer center researchers and physicians are dedicated to understanding the complex biology behind cancer, from before it begins to its evolution and spread.
-
New Frontiers
- Fighting Cancer with Artificial Intelligence
- Beyond Precision Oncology: How Base Editing is Shaping the Future of Cancer Therapy
- A New Hope for Pancreatic Cancer: Cracking the KRAS Code
- Research for Change: Tackling Breast Cancer Inequities
- Columbia at the Cutting Edge: Robotic Liver Cancer Surgery
Here at the HICCC
Director’s message
This year has been a transformative one for the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC). With the launch of our 2025-2030 Strategic Plan, we are reflecting on our achievements and charting a bold path forward. Our vision is clear: our discoveries here will end cancer everywhere.
At the heart of our bold vision is the voice of our patients, their families, and our community. They are central to our mission, guiding our efforts and inspiring the innovations that will shape the future of cancer care.
Here at the HICCC
HICCC by the numbers
The HICCC 2025-2030 Strategic Plan is supported by seven pillars, spanning across our labs, our clinics, and our community, working to advance our mission as we work towards our vision.
Our Vision
Our discoveries here will end cancer everywhere.
Our Mission
Working together, we empower innovation and discovery in cancer research, prevention, early detection, therapy and survivorship to reduce the burden of cancer for our patients, our community and the world.
HICCC STRATEGIC PILLARS
Create a unified cancer community that engages constituents across all disciplines and clinical entities and share our message of excellence.
11 Million
Serves a catchment area of people spanning the five New York City boroughs and beyond
Over $123M
in cancer-relevant research funding
More Than 500
publications on the latest in cancer research
200+ Members
across four research programs
5,000
Enrolled patients in state-of-the-art clinical trials
50%
of those patients came from an underserved community
100K+
cancer treatments
150
cancer outreach events across New York and New Jersey
New Frontiers
Fighting cancer with AI
Mention artificial intelligence, and most people will immediately think of the publicly accessible tools whose ability to generate passable term papers, uncanny artwork, and runnable computer code has helped ignite everything from internet memes to union strikes. Behind the broad discussion of AI’s role in society, though, scientists and clinicians have been quietly exploring its potential to revolutionize cancer care and research.
It’s not a theoretical exercise. The US FDA has already approved several AI-based tools for clinical use, especially in cancer screening, diagnosis, and monitoring. At the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC), investigators are already developing and testing the next generation of cancer-focused AI tools, in a research pipeline extending from basic science to current clinical practice.
New Frontiers
Beyond precision oncology: how base editing is shaping the future of cancer therapy
Over the past thirty years, cancer research has undergone a paradigm shift, moving from focusing on the location of cancer to investigating its underlying mechanisms. New tools and methodologies have empowered researchers to attack cancer at the molecular level, developing therapies that offer precise, less invasive, and potentially curative treatments.
Benjamin Izar, MD, PhD, is pioneering work in base editing, one of these revolutionary new fields. Base editing is a highly precise form of gene editing that allows scientists to directly change individual DNA bases—the building blocks of genetic material—without causing widespread damage to the genome.
New Frontiers
A new hope for pancreatic cancer: cracking the KRAS code
In cancer research, progress is often incremental, and breakthroughs rare. For Ken Olive, PhD, his long-awaited revelation—and potentially a revolution—came this year.
“We’re at an inflection point in the history of the treatment of pancreatic cancer,” says Olive. “I feel like I’ve waited 20 years for this moment.”
It may feel like waiting, but Olive’s lab has been hard at work uncovering the underpinnings of pancreatic cancer and identifying potential targets for new drugs that could change the game for pancreatic cancer patients.
New Frontiers
Research for change: tackling breast cancer inequities
Adana Llanos, PhD, MPH, comes from a family where the risk of breast cancer is high, even from an early age. As a Black woman and cancer epidemiologist, she is acutely aware of the pronounced racial inequities in breast cancer outcomes.
Black women are more likely than white women to die of breast cancer at any age, and for those under 50, Black women have double the rate of mortality. Black women also face significantly higher breast cancer diagnosis under 40 and are twice as likely as women from other racial and ethnic groups to be diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, which has poorer outcomes than other breast cancer subtypes.
New Frontiers
Columbia at the cutting edge: robotic liver cancer surgery
Led by Jason Hawksworth, MD, Columbia’s Robotic Liver Surgery Program is transforming liver cancer care through groundbreaking advancements in robotic surgery. Hawksworth, one of the few surgeons worldwide with expertise in robotic liver resections, spearheads a program that is revolutionizing outcomes for liver cancer patients.
Robotic surgery offers significant advantages over traditional open and laparoscopic approaches, particularly in the context of complex liver resections. Columbia’s surgeons utilize the latest robotic technology that offers high-definition, 3D visualization and precise control, allowing for greater accuracy in targeting tumors in hard-to-reach areas of the liver.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
At the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, we work to make a difference every day by putting patients at the center of our care, partnering closely with our diverse community and advancing equity at every level. From pioneering diversity in clinical trials to creating pathways for aspiring researchers from underrepresented backgrounds, we are dedicated to transforming lives—today and for generations to come.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Ed Bentlyewski, MSN, APN, NP-C, Catherine Shu, MD, Shahnaz Kandah-Singh NP, and Mel Mann, MBA, M.Ed, trade perspectives on clinical trial representation on the “Our Voices in Clinical Trials Panel.”
National Cancer Institute (NCI) Director, Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, MMHC, cuts a ceremonial ribbon alongside Lisa Kachnic, MD, principal investigator of Columbia’s NCORP, at the James VA Medical Center in celebration of cutting-edge radiation equipment for the hospital’s clinical trials.
Diverse voices, better outcomes: bringing clinical trials to all
Clinical trials are essential for developing new cancer treatments, but not everyone benefits equally. Despite representing over 30% of U.S. cancer cases, Black and Hispanic patients make up only about 11% of clinical trial participants nationwide.
The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) is working to address this imbalance and ensure that all patients have access to the promise of clinical research and the latest innovations in care. Expanding efforts across key areas of outreach, education, and access, the HICCC aims to bring clinical trials to those groups who have been historically underrepresented.
Making a difference
Officially cancer free, Orisel Bejaran returns to the spot she first told anyone about her diagnosis.
Orisel’s story: let’s talk about cancer
While cleaning the house one day, Orisel Bejaran felt an itch across her chest. She scratched it, immediately noticing a lump on her breast. After an ultrasound and biopsy, Orisel was diagnosed with stage 2 HER2-positive breast cancer a week later, at the age of 31.
“My mom is a breast cancer survivor, along with her older sister, and two aunts on my father’s side have undergone mastectomies,” says Orisel, now 37, who received her diagnosis in 2018. “So, I knew of the risk—but at 31, breast cancer was the last thing on my mind.”
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Oriana Parsa
Nicole Foto
Emanuel Leclerc
YES in THE HEIGHTS: tomorrow’s health equity leaders
Training the next generation of scientists begins early at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC). Each summer, HICCC’s YES in THE HEIGHTS (Youth Enjoy Science Training in Health Equity, Highlighting Environmental Inequities, & Growing neighborHood Teachers and Students) internship program welcomes high school and undergraduate students from across New York and New Jersey.
Collaborating with top health experts, shadowing oncologists, and discussing critical issues like cancer health disparities, the program provides underrepresented and under-resourced students with opportunities to explore careers in cancer research.
Making a difference
A pipeline for emerging clinical researchers
A new internship program at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) is setting the stage for first year LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC) students to jump-start their careers in clinical research. Offering valuable hands-on experience for community college students, the partnership also creates a pipeline of skilled research assistants offering diverse perspectives.
Marilyn Skony Stamm, honorary director of the LaGuardia Community College Foundation Board and member of the HICCC Cancer Advisory Council, shares her excitement about the program’s impact.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Sasha Stewart (left), arm-in-arm with her oncologist Jennifer Amengual, MD (right), holds the Velocity “C” as she shares her story with the Columbia community at Velocity’s starting line.
Photo by Melanie Einzig
Riders cheer in support of the lifesaving cancer research and care at Columbia, along with the patients and families they serve, during Velocity’s starting line ceremony.
Photo by Melanie Einzig
Stories of Survival: The Velocity Ride
Sasha Stewart, a 2009 Columbia alumna, was working as a comedy writer in New York when she received a cancer diagnosis. What she believed to be an ulcer turned out to be lymphoma, caused by her anti-rejection medication from a kidney transplant 10 years prior.
Returning to Columbia for her cancer treatment, she met oncologist Jennifer Amengual, MD, and began chemo for lymphoma. Dr. Amengual didn’t leave Sasha’s side through her treatment, and the two quickly bonded. “You’re stuck with me for life,” Dr. Amengual explained.
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
We strive to continuously honor the memory of Herbert and Florence Irving and the entire Irving family. They have served as our beacons, and we are honored to be stewards of their vision and generosity. Their transformative gifts have enabled us to dramatically advance research and clinical programs for cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. We deeply appreciate every one of our benefactors, whose generosity enables our vision to end cancer everywhere.
Our sincere gratitude goes to our dedicated advisors and leadership. We would like to thank the members of our advisory committees, who help us in our mission to reduce the burden of cancer on patients, families, and communities, along with our leadership team, whose broad expertise is integral in fostering a community of exceptional research and whole person cancer care.
Contact
Connect with us
Instagram: @Columbiacancerhiccc
Twitter/X: @ColumbiaCancer
Facebook: @ColumbiaCancer
Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at
NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center
1130 St. Nicholas Ave, New York, NY 10032
212.305.5098
NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center
1130 St. Nicholas Ave, New York, NY 10032
212.305.5098
Thanks for reading our 2024 Annual Report