It is hard to believe that 45 years have passed since we opened the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. In 1973, the field of oncology was brand new, and scientists understood very little about what caused cancer and how it could be controlled.

Today, the advancements in immunotherapy, genetics, epigenetics, and precision medicine treatments and the development of new testing methods for cancer are being done by researchers, clinicians, nurses and patients with the groundbreaking discoveries during those 45 years.

The efforts over that time pioneered some of the recent advancements that are allowing cancer patients to live longer and with fewer side effects. It also lets doctors find different cancer types sooner, potentially improving the treatment and recovery rate for patients.

• Dr. Bill Nelson, director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, can talk about how far the center has progressed cancer research and what the future looks like in the field, including the emergence of epigenetics.
   
•  The genesis of some of the most amazing discoveries in cancer genomics got its start in the shell of a Baltimore grocery store, a structure that still stands today. Dr. Bert Vogelstein, director of the Ludwig Center, discovered the first genetic blueprints of cancer and, according to the Institute for Scientific Information in Philadelphia, is currently the most highly cited scientist in the world.
   
• After completing his residency in radiation oncology at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Ted DeWeese has been a part of the expanding efforts of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center to bring radiation oncology programs to the Bayview Medical Center and, more recently, to the National Capital Region at Sibley Memorial Hospital, in D.C., and Suburban Hospital, in Bethesda, Maryland.
   
•  Dr. Drew Pardoll is the director of the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, which was established in 2016 and hopes to take science to a new level with new discoveries in immunotherapy and technology.
   
•  Dr. Elizabeth Jaffee is a renowned oncology researcher and co-director of both the Cancer Immunology Program and the Gastrointestinal Cancers Program as well as the current president of the American Association for Cancer Research, the world's oldest and largest professional association related to cancer research. She is well versed in the unprecedented progress against cancer and how major headway can be made going forward.
   
•  The Johns Hopkins National Proton Therapy Center will begin treating patients in 2019 at Sibley Memorial Hospital. The center is being uniquely developed to incorporate both state-of-the-art clinical technology and the capability to conduct advanced cancer research.

Media is cordially invited to schedule a tour of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center campus to experience firsthand the physical expansion of how cancer patients are receiving treatments and the efforts into research. In addition, our experts will be available to talk about a wide range of topics for your stories.

We can put you in touch with patients who can talk about their stories of strength, perseverance, and overcoming the odds in this new era of cancer prevention and treatment.

For a list of the milestones and achievements over the past 45 years, please visit Kimmel Cancer Center website.