Accelerations

HICCC Spring/Summer 2025 Magazine

About This Issue

At the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC), we work to make a difference every day by putting patients at the center of our care, partnering closely with our community, and advancing research across every cancer type.

In this spring/summer issue of Accelerations, we’re highlighting a time of momentum—where scientific discovery, community action, and personal resilience intersect. Explore what’s on the horizon in cancer research, how we’re fast-tracking drug discovery breakthroughs, and long-awaited advances in pancreatic cancer.

New Frontiers

What’s New in Cancer Research: Q+A with HICCC Director Anil Rustgi, MD 

Accelerating Breakthroughs: The Irving Cancer Drug Discovery Program Bridges Academia and Industry 

Challenging the Odds: New Hope for Pancreatic Cancer 

Making a Difference

Community Science Graduates Empower NYC to Fight Cancer 

Alondra's Story: Getting Back to Life After Colon Cancer 

Contacts

Stay Connected 

 

Stay Tuned: Look back at a year of progress in cancer research, care, and community in HICCC’s 2025 Annual Report, coming December 2025.

View past issues 

 

What’s New in Cancer Research:
Q+A with HICCC Director Anil Rustgi, MD

Cancer research is evolving at an unprecedented pace, driven by a proliferation of data, powerful new tools, and a deeper understanding of the biology of cancer. At the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC), researchers are pushing boundaries across disciplines—from artificial intelligence and genomics to immunotherapy and early detection.

 

Accelerating Breakthroughs: The Irving Cancer Drug Discovery Program Bridges Academia and Industry

The road from discovery to treatment is challenging. Gaps in funding, lack of connection to industry partners, or insufficient support are all potential bumps in the road. As a result, many extraordinary discoveries go no further than the lab, their potential for clinical impact untapped—falling into the “valley of death”.  Now in its third year, the Irving Cancer Drug Discovery Program (ICDDP) is fueling the pipeline of promising cancer treatments.

 

Challenging the Odds: New Hope for Pancreatic Cancer

For years, a pancreatic cancer diagnosis has come with a devastating prognosis of only a few years. The problem is twofold; lack of an effective screening test which means that most patients don’t get diagnosed until their tumor has already spread to other parts of their body, and that few drugs work against the disease. After decades of effort, though, researchers are finally making some headway against pancreatic cancer.

 

Community Science Graduates Empower NYC to Fight Cancer

This spring, a cohort of 14 graduated from the 2025 Community Scientist Institute (CSI), offered annually throughout the HICCC and The City College of New York. Over the course of eight weeks, these 'community scientists' learned to use clinical and translational research tools and their own unique roles in their communities to advocate for better cancer outcomes in New York.

 

Alondra's Story: Getting Back to Life After Colon Cancer

Alondra had just passed her social work licensing exam when she started having symptoms. After seeing blood in her stool, the busy mother of three said she knew in her heart something wasn’t right and committed to getting an answer. “I made an appointment to see my doctor," she says. "Thankfully, he took me seriously even though I’m younger than a lot of colorectal cancer patients, he sent me right away to get a colonoscopy.”

 

Stay Connected

Connect with the HICCC to stay up to date on news and research on cancer at Columbia.

 

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What’s New in Cancer Research: Q+A with HICCC Director Anil Rustgi, MD