For patients with cancer, receiving the best care is essential. At UofL Health – Brown Cancer Center, patients have been receiving quality health care services for 40 years.
Our mission is to generate new knowledge relating to the nature of cancer. We strive to create new and more effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis and therapy while delivering medical advances with compassion and respect to cancer patients throughout our region.
For patients in Kentuckiana and beyond, Brown Cancer Center offers innovative treatments to help patients fight the disease while still living each moment to the fullest. Our cancer detection and prevention programs are helping individuals in our community learn more about their risk factors, the disease and the importance of early intervention.
As part of UofL Health and an academic medical center, and in partnership with the UofL School of Medicine and UofL Physicians, Brown Cancer Center offers our patients state-of-the-art facilities, groundbreaking research, pioneering treatments as well as access to more than 700 specialty and primary care physicians.
Our Leadership
Jason Chesney, M.D., Ph.D.
Director and Chief Administrative Officer, UofL Health – Brown Cancer Center
Associate Vice President for Health Affairs, University of Louisville School of Medicine
Elizabeth C. Riley, M.D., FACP
Deputy Director of Health Affairs
Rebecca Redman, M.D.
Deputy Director of Clinical Research
Robert A. Mitchell, Ph.D.
Deputy Director of Research
Sam Kloecker, MHSA
System Director, Oncology Services
Our History
More than 10,000 people a year die from cancer in Kentucky, where the disease has the highest mortality rate in the nation. Experts say the biggest issue is lung cancer, which strikes Kentuckians at a rate 50 percent higher than the national average. Death rates for breast, colorectal and cervical cancers in Kentucky also rank in the top 10 nationally.
To help relieve the suffering caused by cancer of the state’s residents, the Brown Cancer Center was opened in 1981 with a $12 million gift from the James Graham Brown Foundation and the citizens of Louisville.
In 1999, John Shumaker, then president of UofL, made a commitment to creating a center that would improve cancer care in the region and become one of the nation’s preeminent cancer centers. The belief was - and continues to be - that the citizens of Kentucky deserve world-class cancer treatment, and no resident should feel compelled to leave Kentucky to seek the best level of care.
Clinical Care and Education
Since 1999, the Brown Cancer Center has enjoyed a period of remarkable growth in its clinical and research programs with strong, multidisciplinary programs providing a team-focused approach to cancer care. These programs have been extended into several communities throughout the state with an emphasis on providing outreach to underserved populations.
The state-funded Kentucky Cancer Program has become a national leader in providing cancer education. This premier state-funded cancer prevention education program is based at the Brown Cancer Center and the University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center. Through a network of 12 regional offices, the KCP’s services and programs are available in all parts of Kentucky. Each office is run by a cancer control specialist, who is a catalyst for change in his or her region.
Research
Since 1999, the Brown Cancer Center has pursued a strategic plan for the development of strong translational research, focused particularly on drug discovery and development.
The plan and recruitment of new faculty places emphasis on investigational areas that will lead to new approaches to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. This emphasis is paying off, as scientists with the Brown Cancer Center have several novel treatments in early phase clinical trials with more than a dozen others in preclinical stages.
Support for the Center
The growth of the Brown Cancer Center has been made possible with strong University of Louisville and philanthropic support. The development of the Kentucky Research Challenge Trust Fund , known as “Bucks for Brains,” has played an important role in providing funds for the recruitment of talented investigators, creating 22 new endowed chairs.
Support from the James Graham Brown Foundation, the Humana Foundation and Kentucky Lung Cancer Research Fund also has provided resources critical to the Brown Cancer Center’s growth. This has resulted in nationally recognized research programs that have direct implications for cancer patients in Kentucky.
Research grants have grown from around $1 million in 1999 to more than $50 million in 2011. Because of the specific needs of the state and region, the center has targeted tobacco-related cancers as a major focus and is exploring several promising approaches.
Today, the Brown Cancer Center continues to be a leader in the treatment of cancer.