West Lafayette, Indiana

The Purdue University Institute for Cancer Research was established in 1976 and received its NCI designation in 1978.

Purdue is an interdisciplinary cancer research center. Its mission is to promote discovery in the areas of biological phenomena, new chemical entities, and new technology that leads to the development of innovative instrumentation, new diagnostic tools, and novel therapeutics. By studying cancers at the cellular level, researchers are discovering how such diseases develop, progress, and respond to treatment. The goal is to find ways to detect cancer sooner and treat it more effectively.

The Institute draws its 12 members from 17 different departments and six schools and colleges. Purdue offers leadership and coordination of the diverse efforts of the Institute’s basic science and engineering research communities by providing the infrastructure for a series of research programs.

There are four areas of research emphasis at Purdue. The Institute’s research programs designed to understand the biology of cancer – from the molecular level to the whole organism – are found in the Chemical and Structural Biology program and in the Cell Identity and Signaling program. Purdue’s initiatives for developing therapeutics, devising mechanisms for delivering therapeutics, and creating new means for analytical sensing are part of the Medicinal Chemistry program and the Drug Delivery and Molecular Sensing program.

The Institute combines Purdue University’s expertise in basic cancer biology, medicinal chemistry, and engineering. A core of Center researchers from these separate departments are brought together in the Hansen Life Sciences Building that houses the Institute. The collaborations across disciplines in the Institute generate knowledge, concentrate efforts on the most promising diagnostics and therapeutics, create new research opportunities, and help train future cancer researchers.