On Tuesday, April 24, 2007, Dr. Donald L. Trump presented his first State of the Institute address to the staff of Roswell Park Cancer Institute. He was joined by Richard F. Daines, MD, New York State Commissioner of Health, in presenting this information. Below is a transcript of his speech.  Click here to view a video of this presentation.

In developing my remarks for today, I began to consider the influences that affected me on my journey to this great honor – the honor of becoming the 14^th Director of Roswell Park. When I was a young physician just finishing my training, I was convinced that I wanted to be a cardiologist. Then I rotated on a cancer ward at Johns Hopkins – and it was that rotation that changed my life. I was struck by the compassion and commitment of all the staff to cure cancer, understand the disease and to ease the burdens experienced by cancer patients and their families. 

The contacts and friendships I made during that rotation still endure. Several physicians served as role models, friends and advisors, including Dr. Martin Abeloff, the current director of The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center (he was a fellow a few years ahead of me at Hopkins) and Dr. Al Owens, his predecessor and the first director.

Of all my contacts, perhaps the most important were the patients in my care during those early rotations – patients who demonstrated courage and grit under amazing circumstances and duress. In fact, I keep in touch with some of these patients even today. One patient – a young man with testicular cancer –is now dean of admissions at a major East Coast university. He will be taking my daughter and me on a tour of the college when we visit in July. 

Another patient, a young man with acute leukemia, just emailed me to announce his retirement after 25 years as an HR executive for a major Maryland corporation.

I also realize – having lost both my parents to cancer – how important this work is…and how much we must strive to eliminate cancer for our children’s generation.

These are some of the factors that influenced my career and people who provided advice, inspiration, encouragement and guidance along a path that has led to the directorship of this historic cancer institute. 

We are here today, thanks in varying degrees to my 13 predecessors who served as directors of Roswell Park. The vision of the first director, Dr. Roswell Park himself, may have been the most remarkable. 

Dr. Park is often quoted as saying that “only through a deliberate, well-planned, combined attack from various directions … could real advances be made and further the relationship of laboratory work, clinical study and education.”   

Dr. Park, at the turn of the 19^th century, was describing a comprehensive cancer center and multidisciplinary translational research decades before those terms were popularized. 

In 1898, with Mr. Edward Butler, publisher of the Buffalo Evening News, Dr. Park lobbied New York State to allocate $10,000 for a cancer research lab at the University at Buffalo. 

In 1911, Dr. Park convinced New York State to establish the New York Institute for the Study of Malignant Disease – and Roswell Park Cancer Institute was born. 

While contributions of succeeding directors were numerous and important, I’d like to draw attention to those of my two immediate predecessors: Dr. Thomas B. Tomasi and Dr. David C. Hohn. 

Dr. Tomasi led the Institute through some very turbulent times. Under his leadership, an environment was established to encourage clinical and basic researchers to excel at the highest levels, nationally and internationally. 

Dr Tomasi convinced New York State, and then-Governor Mario Cuomo, of the critical importance of investing in the rejuvenation of the clinical and research facilities at Roswell Park. This resulted in a $242 million modernization plan, one of the largest of its kind ever undertaken by New York State. 

Dr. Tomasi also reorganized the departments into more functional units facilitating multidisciplinary care. 

Critically important was Dr. Tomasi’s ability to galvanize prominent leaders in our community to establish the Community Council, the forerunner of our current Board of Directors.

He also worked to establish the Roswell Park Alliance, which took the first steps in fundraising on behalf at Roswell Park. With the tireless support of Roswell Park advocates such as Donna Gioia and Anne Gioia, the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation was formed. Since its inception, the Foundation has raised $174 million for patients and research at Roswell Park. 

In 1997, with the new bed tower and ambulatory facility nearing completion, Dr. Tomasi stepped down as director and returned to his laboratory full time to continue his outstanding program in the study of the immune system and cancer. His program continues to be extremely successful. Most recently, I am proud to say, new collaborative studies on the interaction of vitamin D and the immune system have developed with Dr. Tomasi, Dr. Candace Johnson and myself. 

Dr. Tomasi’s contributions set the stage for the directorship of my immediate predecessor, friend and colleague, Dr. David Hohn. 

Dr. Hohn took the role of director in 1997 with the immediate challenge and commitment from the State of New York and Governor Pataki to change the governance model and lay the foundation for Roswell Park to be a truly competitive research institute and patient care center. 

He accomplished that goal in spades. Legislation was developed to redefine the governance model and establish the 15-member, Roswell Park Board of Directors, whose first chair was Mr. Patrick Lee. With these changes, decision-making was now centered at Roswell Park and this enabled a course to be set to improve fiscal stability, facilities development and faculty recruitment. Among the accomplishments that this change enabled are:

• The construction of the new 170,000 sq. ft. Center for Pharmacology and Genetics and the adjacent University at Buffalo’s Center of Excellence and the new Hauptman Woodward Institute.
• Outpatient care programs have increased markedly.
• Science faculty, clinical science faculty, clinical research and patient care staff have all been recruited under Dr. Hohn’s leadership. This is so important because our most precious resource is our people.
• Grant and contract support have tripled to almost $80 million. 
• The National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer center designation was solidified. 
• In the past 10 years, the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation has raised $124 million. 
• The annual operating budget of Roswell Park has increased from $180 million to $480 million while the percentage of operating budget that is derived from New York State has substantially decreased.

These unprecedented accomplishments exceeded the expectations of many - but not Dr. Hohn. He knew that these goals were in reach when he took the reins of Roswell Park and he established an impressive foundation on which a new director would be expected to continue the growth and excellence of basic, clinical and prevention science, clinical care and education.

Recently, Ambassador Tony Gioia advised me at a dinner party: “Don’t screw it up, Skip!” Well let me assure you, I don’t intend to. 

Roswell Park is an institution positioned for greatness. Our partnerships with, and support from, the State of New York and our State and Federal legislators are extraordinary. 

With our partners on this exciting and expanding Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus – the University of Buffalo, Hauptman Woodward Institute, Kaleida and Buffalo General Hospital and others – we are developing a nationally recognized biomedical research and clinical care complex right here in downtown Buffalo. 

This complex and the biotech companies spinning out of Roswell Park’s science will be an engine for further intellectual, entrepreneurial and economic development here in Western New York. Roswell Park will continue its development as a cancer center of the future – we will continue to advance new research discoveries that will provide clues and answers to the perplexing questions in basic cancer biology and cancer prevention.

We will develop new cancer therapies and new cancer-fighting technologies. Roswell Park will become a center that establishes new standards in patient care and discern new care pathways.

Roswell Park will be a leading national center for educating generations of cancer scientists, clinicians and health care providers of many kinds, not only physicians and bench researchers, but nurses, laboratory and medical care technologists. Roswell Park will become the best place to work in Western New York - an Institute responsive to the needs of its employees. All these attributes will contribute to our most important, and in fact, our only mission − to cure cancer in more and more patients and to reduce suffering for all patients and their families. 

So how will we get there? What’s the path? What are the steps to achieving my goal of positioning Roswell Park as one of this nation’s Top 10 Cancer Centers? 

We’ll get there by executing the following 10 steps: 

1.      Focus on high impact scientific research. We must never forget our role in defining new paradigms in all areas of cancer biology and cancer prevention.

2.      Expand our patient care programs to provide an increasing number of patients in our region the best cancer medicine has to offer. 

3.      Continue to recruit the best and brightest scientists and clinical investigators from around the country and around the world.

4.      Build internationally recognized education and training programs. Our reputation will grow and our contribution to improved patient care and to better understand cancer will expand as we train the best young scientists and clinicians to take positions in centers around the world. 

5.      Develop an aggressive, comprehensive, integrated master facilities plan. We’ve taken important first steps in reorganizing our current space but to meet the goals required to be a Top 10 Cancer Center, continued facilities development is absolutely required. 

6.      Enhance our fiscal security through continued growth of our clinical revenues, expansion of our grants and contract portfolio, enhancement of our philanthropic activities through new partnerships and geographically more expansive programs.

7.      Position Roswell Park as an employer of choice nationally. Recruitment of faculty requires that we be recognized as a great place to do research and care for patients, but we cannot forget the necessity to address the needs and concerns of our employees. Enhanced employee satisfaction is key to stability at all levels.

8.      Focus attention on two often overlooked populations: cancer survivors and individuals whose access to top quality cancer care is limited by economic, cultural or ethnic barriers. The number of cancer survivors is growing exponentially and we must be attentive to their medical and psychosocial needs. We must strive to understand the access barriers to quality care and to develop innovative solutions to these barriers. This will distinguish us nationally. 

9.      Continue to develop partnerships. In addition to the partnerships in science with our colleagues on the Buffalo Medical Campus, the University at Buffalo, the Hauptman Woodward Institute, we must develop other partnerships in clinical care locally, regionally and statewide to bring the latest advances in cancer treatment to patients throughout the State of New York. We will develop partnerships in science and with cancer researchers throughout the world. In this world of increasing “flatness” as best selling author and New York Times columnist Tom Friedman has described, we must create new relationships to facilitate information dissemination. 

10.     Accelerate the development of new and enhance existing programs in biotechnology and technology transfer. This will ensure the most rapid translation of scientific findings at Roswell Park to patients with cancer. These are the ways to get our discoveries to more patients more quickly. Technology transfer provides an economic engine for Roswell Park and our region. Buffalo-based companies developing Roswell Park science will pay dividends for fiscal security of Roswell Park and Western New York and justify the continued support of Roswell Park by our local, regional, statewide and national supporters. 

Lest you think I’m not aware of the challenges we face in achieving this goal of becoming a Top 10 Cancer Center, let me review some of them….

• We will always have to struggle to optimize our resources. The current climate for federal funding and philanthropy is uncertain, but who 10 years ago would have predicted a three-fold increase in grants and that we would raise $124 through philanthropy?
• Developing personnel resources will also be a challenge. I’m often asked about the difficulty recruiting to Roswell Park in Buffalo. While recruitment is always hard work and requires resources and creativity, our record speaks for itself. With a high quality product and a supportive community, recruiting additional outstanding basic and clinical scientists will be accomplished. We have recruited over 150 new faculty and scientists in the past 10 years so we know this challenge CAN be met.
• We will have to meet the challenge of developing our facilities. This will require innovative partnerships, including partnerships with our great friends and supporters in the State Legislature and in the Department of Health, and partnerships with local leaders and community supporters to define resources and synergistic opportunities for the development of improved patient care plans and funding of appropriate facilities to enhance the care of cancer patients. We will need new partnerships with our faculty and staff to develop innovative plans for Roswell Park in the 21^st century.

These are exciting times –

• Exciting scientifically!
• Exciting clinically with new advances and initiatives!
• And the exciting opportunities we have to make major contributions to this city, our region, our state, but most importantly to cancer patients all over the world. 

I assure you I will work tirelessly to meet the challenges that lie ahead. I will strive to be open; our processes will be transparent; and we will work together to continue the remarkable progress that Roswell Park has achieved over the last 20 years. We will increase the number of cancer patients who are cured of this disease…and we will ensure that Roswell Park continues to be the exciting, stimulating, supportive institution we have seen emerge over the past 10 years.

Our future is bright; our work is important; and our total commitment makes the achievement of these goals – the cure of cancer and the growth of Roswell Park as one of the nation’s leading cancer centers – a virtual certainty. 

I’m privileged and honored to be able to lead Roswell Park in this exciting time. Thank you very much.