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In 2024, VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center is celebrating 50 years of fueling innovation in cancer research, building community trust through partnership and training the next generation of cancer specialists to continue its legacy of patient- and community-centered care.

Founded in 1974, Massey was among the earliest cancer centers in the U.S. to be designated by the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health and the nation’s preeminent authority in cancer research. In 2023, Massey received designation as the nation’s 54th Comprehensive Cancer Center, the highest level of distinction bestowed by the NCI, reflecting its exceptional scientific leadership, depth of research, community outreach and cancer research training and education. Today, Massey is recognized as the first in a new generation of NCI-designated cancer centers where the needs of the communities are at the heart of everything we do.

“For 50 years, Massey has been at the forefront of what is now a growing movement toward community engagement in cancer care and research; we embrace our community members as equal experts and research partners,” said Robert A. Winn, M.D., Massey director and Lipman Chair in Oncology. “My predecessors, including and especially Massey’s founding director Walter Lawrence Jr., M.D., as well as many clinicians and researchers who came before me, set Massey on the path to national prominence we are walking now. I look forward to revisiting memories of Massey’s history and impact on our community over this next year.”

Throughout 2024, Massey will highlight stories from its leaders, clinicians, researchers, donors and patients that showcase Massey’s 50 years of impact in research, innovation, outreach, patient care and giving, while looking ahead to the future and to what’s next for Massey and the field of cancer prevention and treatment.

We will share photos and historic content from the past 50 years on www.masseycancercenter.org/50years. Special events and opportunities throughout the year will engage community members and Massey supporters in the celebration.

We hope you will follow along as we recognize and celebrate the achievements and milestones of the past half century, and look ahead to the game-changing innovations still to come.

Written by Annie Harris