Dana-Farber's strategic vision
By Edward J. Benz Jr., MD
Edward J. Benz Jr., MD
Last fall, Dana-Farber adopted a Strategic Plan that commits the Institute to conquering at least one form of cancer in the next 10 years. That is a bold goal, but also a critical one for our patients and their families, as well as for Dana-Farber's continued leadership in cancer care and research.
Over its history, the Institute has made enormous contributions to science's understanding of the cancer process — as it begins in abnormal genes and proteins, deranges the behavior of cells, interacts with other bodily systems, and affects populations. DFCI physicians, nurses, and support staff have been influential in creating a standard of care, and a culture of caring, that today serves as a model around the world.
But if Dana-Farber is to mount a truly decisive assault on cancer, it must do more than rely on momentum alone. It must make itself the ideal place for putting science to work: to offer people who convert laboratory findings into new treatments the same incentives, support, and sense of opportunity that have always infused scientific investigation here. Accomplishing that will require changes not only in the obvious areas of research and clinical care, but in virtually every aspect of the Institute's operations — from administration to data management to fundraising. The Strategic Plan is a road map for making it all happen.
"The result [of this strategic work] will be what we've dubbed a 'model cancer center,' an example of what can be accomplished when an entire organization is driven by a common purpose."
If the plan's theme could be expressed in one word, it would be "collaboration." We know from experience that the most exciting science and most dramatic patient-care advances occur when experts in disparate fields come together to attack common problems. I'm convinced that the impact we're able to have on cancer depends not just on technology, physical facilities, or even the quality of individual staff members, but on the extent to which we can learn from one another.
We seek to build opportunities for collaboration and interaction into the very structure of the Institute — to strengthen the "connective tissue" that unites us as an organization. People who work in clinical areas will, as a regular and basic part of their job, have contact with people in research departments. Laboratory scientists will have more links to colleagues not only within Dana-Farber, but at other Harvard-affiliated hospitals and schools as well. The idea is to tap the creative energy kindled by their association. If we're successful, Dana-Farber will be, even more than at present, a place where insights are contagious and the serendipitous becomes routine.
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