Innovation has been at the forefront of Roswell Park’s work for 125 years. And there’s just one driving force behind the countless research initiatives that have come through the labs at Roswell Park over the last century: the vision of a brighter future for our patients. Every question our investigators chase holds within it the hope of a more effective treatment, more time with loved ones, cancer cures once and for all. That same sense of compassionate urgency and creativity is met with expert care and careful analysis in the newly renovated and dedicated Patricia and Richard Garman Clinical Research Center.
The Garman Family
The center was dedicated to honor the memory of Patricia and Richard Garman, longtime Roswell Park supporters. Before they passed, Pat and Dick devoted their lives to providing critical philanthropic support to the Western New York Community. Their partnership with Roswell Park dates back to 1990, providing not only the $2.2 million legacy gift Dick left to renovate and enhance the center, but also for The Garman Family Endowed Chair in Cell Stress Biology, currently held by Andrei Gudkov, PhD, DSci, Roswell Park’s Senior Vice President of Research Technology and Innovation. That spirit of generosity toward Roswell Park lives on in their daughter, Missy, who carries on her parents’ tradition of leadership as a supporter and board member.
Novel Treatments in Action
You’ll find the Garman Clinical Research Center on the fifth floor of the Scott Bieler Clinical Sciences Center; a building with which many of our patients benefitting from leading treatments are already familiar. In the center, patients who are part of clinical trials and other novel treatments have a dedicated space in which to receive their outpatient care from a specialized, multidisciplinary team focused not only on the individual patients, but on the research itself, as well.
Roswell Park was among the first cancer centers in the nation to have its own Clinical Research Center focused specifically on the development of new cancer treatments. Through the generosity of the Garman family, the existing center was relocated and renovated to expand its capacity and enhance its offerings. More numerous and more advanced clinical trials can be accommodated; a greater number of patients can be seen by an increased number of experts; those multidisciplinary experts have customized workspace and top-tier facilities in which to carry out their critical work.
“We’re so grateful to the Garman family for their wholehearted support of the Roswell Park mission and their vision to see the promise of innovative clinical research happening right here, right now,” said Igor Puzanov, MD, Senior Vice President of Clinical Investigation and The Judith and Stanford Lipsey Endowed Chair in Clinical Cancer Research. “The Patricia and Richard Garman Clinical Research Center is designed to provide the highest level of patient safety and to quickly generate precise data on potential new treatments. These capabilities help attract studies sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and sponsoring pharmaceutical companies while supporting studies launched by our very own scientists here at Roswell Park. Overall, this work made possible by our generous supporters modernized the center to better accommodate current and prospective programs and reconfigured the space to enhance workflows, patient safety and the patient experience.”
